Secrets of the Bosphorus

(6

i^-r

Ambassador Henry Morgenthau.

[Frontispiece

SErRETS OF THE
BOSPHORUS

By

AMBASSADOR HENRY MORGENTHAU

CONSTANTINOPLE, 1913-1916
JVith 19 Illustrations

LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO.
PATERNOSTER ROW ^ ©

f973

'//

^-

ERRATA

Page 16, line 4, read " without " for with.
Page 18, line 13, read " Mexico " for Turkey.
Page 18, line 35, read " Humann " instead of Enver.

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PRINTED IN GBBAT BRITAIN BY THE ANCHOK PRESS LTD. TIPTBEK ESSEX.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

AMBASSADOR HENRY MORGENTHAU requires no
introduction to the British public, but the. American
diplomat who may with justice be termed The Search-
light of Truth at the Golden Horn, and whose Reminiscences will
rank now and in years to come as historical documents of the
first importance, modestly obscures in his graphic and fascinating
narrative one fact which requires emphasising :

That by his shrewd grasp of enemy psychology, by his un-
swerving impartiality, by his tact and dignity, and unflinching
courage, he frustrated again and again the evil designs and
machinations of that trio of arch-schemers and villains, Wan-
genheim, Talaat, and Enver, against the Allies, and thus earned
a debt of lasting gratitude from the British people.

PREFACE

BY this time the American people have probably become
convinced that the Germans deliberately planned the
conquest of the world. Yet they hesitate to convict
on circumstantial evidence, and for -this reason all eye-witnesses
to this, the greatest crime in modern history, should volunteer
their testimony.

I have therefore laid aside any scruples I had as to the pro-
priety of disclosing to my fellow-countrymen the facts which I
learned while representing them in ' Turkey. I acquired this
knowledge as the servant of the American people, and it is their
property as much as it is mine.-

I greatly regret that I have been obliged to omit an account
of the splendid activities of the American Missionary and Educa-
tional Institutions in Turkey, but to do justice to this subject
would require a book by itself. I have had to omit the story of
the Jews in Turkey for the same reasons.

My thanks are due to my friend, Mr. Burton J. Hendrick,
for the invaluable assistance he has rendered in the preparation
of the book.

Henry Morqenth.^u.
October, 1918.

i

CONTENTS

PAOB

A GERMAN" SUPERMAN AT CONSTANTINOPLE - I

II. THE " BOSS SYSTEM " IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

AND HOW IT PROVED USEFUL TO GERMANY - 12

III. " THE PERSON.^L REPRESENT.\TIVE OF THE

KAISER " — WANGENHEIM OPPOSES THE SALE OF
AMERICAN WARSHIPS IN GREECE - - 26

IV. GERMANY MOBILISES THE TURKISH .\RMY - 39
V. WANGENHEIM S.MUGGLES THE " GOEBEN " AND THE

" BRESLAU " THROUGH THE D.\RDANELLES - 44

VI. WANGENHEIM TELLS THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR

HOW THE KAISER STARTED THE W.\R - 53

VII. GERMANY'S PLANS FOR NEW TERRITORIES, COALING

ST.\TIONS, AND INDEMNITIES - - - 58

VIII. A CLASSIC INST.\NCE OF GERMAN PROP.\GANDA - 62
LX. GERMANY CLOSES THE DARDANELLES AND SO

SEPAR.\TES RUSSIA FROM HER .\LLIES - 68

X. turkey's ABROGATION OF THE CAPITULATIONS —
ENVER LIVING IN A PAL.'ICE. WITH PLENTY OF
MONEY AND AN IMPERIAL BRIDE - - 73

XI. GERMANY COMPELS TURKEY TO ENTER THE WAR - 80
XII. THE TURKS ATTEMPT TO TREAT ALIEN ENEMIES
DECENTLY, BUT THE GER.MANS INSIST ON PER-
SECUTING THEM - - - - 85

XIII. THE INVASION OF THE ZION SISTERS* SCHOOL - 96

XIV. W.\NGENHEIM AND THE BETHLEHEM STEEL COM-

PANY — A HOLY WAR THAT WAS MADE IN
GER.MANY ----- I03

XV. DJEMAL, A TROUBLESOME MARK ANTONY— .\N
EARLY GERMAN .\TTEMPT TO GET A GERMAN
PEACE ------ 112

ix

X.

Contents

CHAPTER

XVI.

PAGB

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.
XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.
XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

THE TURKS PREPARE TO FLEE FROM CONSTANTIN-
OPLE AND ESTABLISH A NEW CAPITAL IN ASIA
MINOR — THE ALLIED FLEET BOMBARDING THE
DARDANELLES -----
ENVER AS THE MAN WHO DEMONSTRATED " THE
VULNERABILITY OF THE BRITISH FLEET " — ■
OLD-FASHIONED DEFENCES OF THE DARDANELLES
THE ALLIED ARMADA SAILS AWAY, THOUGH ON THE
BRINK OF VICTORY - - . _

A FIGHT FOR THREE THOUSAND CIVILIANS-
MORE ADVENTURES OF THE FOREIGN RESIDENTS -
BULGARIA ON THE AUCTION BLOCK
THE TURK REVERTS TO THE ANCESTRAL TYPE
THE " REVOLUTION " AT VAN - - -

THE MURDER OF A NATION - - _

TALAAT TELLS WHY HE "ANNIHILATES" THE
ARMENIANS _ _ - _ _

ENVER PASHA DISCUSSES THE ARMENIANS
" I SHALL DO NOTHING FOR THE ARMENIANS,"

SAYS THE GERMAN AMBASSADOR
ENVER AGAIN MOVES FOR PEACE — FAREWELL TO

THE SULTAN AND TO TURKEY
VON J AGOW, ZIMMERMAN. AND GERMAN-AMERICANS

121

133

143

153
167

180

193
198

215
226

240

253
261

ILLUSTRATIONS

Ambassador Henry Morgenthau ... - Frontispiece

Baron Wangenueim, German Ambassador - - facing page ^2

M. TocHEFF, Bulgarian Minister at Constantinople ,, ,, 33

" GOEBEN " IN THE SeA OF MaRMORA - - - - ,, ,, 48

" BRESLAU " (left) AT THE GOLDEN HORN - - ,, .. 49

En vER Pasha, Minister OF War - - - - ,. ,,112

Talaat Pasha. Grand Vizier - - - - ,, ,,112
Bl'stany Effendi, Ex-Minister OF Commerce and

Agriculture - ..113

Djr;mal Pasha, Minister OF Marine . . - ,. ,. 113

Mr. Morgenthau and Sir Louis Mallet - - - ,, ,. 116

Sir Louis Mallet AND M. BoMPARD - - - .. ,, 116

Be d Ri BzY, Prefect OF Police - - - - .. .,117

Talaat AND VON KuHLMANN ,, ,, [17

Sedd-ul-Bahr Fortification - - - - . - .. .. i44

Fort Dardanos •• -.MS

Mohammed v., Sultan OF Turkey - - - - .. ..176

Tchemenlik AND Fort Anadolu Hamidie . - - ,. ,, i77

Sheik-ul-Islam proclaiming a Holy War - - .... 192

The Bosphorus, Key to the Black Sea - - - .... 193

XI

Secrets of the Bosphorus

CHAPTER I

A GERMAN SUPERMAN AT CONSTANTINOPLE

I AM writing these reminiscences of my ambassadorship
at a moment when Germany's schemes in the Turkish
Empire and the Near East have achieved an apparent
success. Tlie Central Powers have disintegrated Russia,
have transformed tlie Baltic and the Black Seas into German
lakes, and have obtained a new route to the East by way of the
Caucasus. Germany now dominates Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania,
and Turkey, and regards her aspirations for a new Teutonic
Empire, extending from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf, as
practically reahsed. The world now knows, though it did not
clearly understand this fact in 1914, that Germany precipitated
the war to destroy Serbia, seize control of the Balkan nations,
transform Turkey into a vassal state, and thus obtain a huge
oriental empire that would form the basis for unlimited world
dominion. Do these German aggressions in the East mean that
this extensive programme has succeeded ?

As I look upon the new map. which shows Germany's recent
military and diplomatic triumphs, my experiences in Constan-
tinople take on a new meaning. I now see the events of these
twenty-six months as part of a connected, definite story. The
several individuals that moved upon the scene now appear as
players in a carefully staged, superbly managed drama. I see
clearly enough now that Germany had made all her plans for
world dominion and that the country to which I had been
accredited as American Ambassador was the foundation of the
Kaiser's whole political and mihtary structure. Had Germany
not acquired control of Constantinople in the early days of the
war, it is not unlikely that hostiUtics would have ended a few
months after the battle of the Marne. It was certainly an amaz-
ing fate that landed me in this great headquarters of intrigue
at the very moment when the plans of the Kaiser, carefully
pursued for a quarter of a century, were about to achieve their
final success.

B

2 Secrets of the Bosphorus

For the work of subjugating Turkey and transforming its
army and its territory into instruments of Germany, the Emperor
had sent to Constantinople an Ambassador who was ideally
fitted for the task. The mere fact that Wilhelm had personally
selected Baron von Wangenheim for this post shows that he had
accurately gauged the human quaUties needed for this great
diplomatic enterprise.

The Kaiser had early selected Wangenheim as a useful
instrument for his plans ; he had more than once summoned him
to Corfu for his vacations, and here, we may be sure, the two
congenial spirits had passed many days discussing German
ambitions in the East. At the time I first met him, Wangenheim
was fifty-four years old ; he had given a quarter of a century to
the diplomatic service, he had seen service in such different
places as Petrograd, Copenhagen, Madrid, Athens, and Mexico,
and he had been charge at Constantinople, several years later
coming there as Ambassador, He understood completely all
countries, including the United States ; his first wife, indeed,
had been an American, and Wangenheim, when Minister to
Mexico, had intimately studied our country and acquired that
admiration for our energy and progress which he frequently
expressed. He had a complete technical equipment for a
diplomat ; he spoke German, Engfish, and French with equal
facility, he knew the East thoroughly, and had the widest
acquaintance with public men. Physically he was one of the
most striking persons I have ever known. When I was a boy
in Germany, the Fatherland was usually symbolised as a beauti-
ful and powerful woman — a kind of dazzHng Valkyrie ; when I |
think of modern Germany, however, the massive, burly figure of
Wangenheim naturally presents itself to my mind. He was n
six feet, two inches tall ; his huge, soHd frame, his Gibraltar-
like shoulders, erect and impregnable, his bold, defiant head, his ji
piercing eyes, the whole physical structure constantly pulsating |;
with life and activity — there stands, I would say, not the Germany t
which I had known, but the Germany whose limitless ambitions ^i
had transformed the world into a place of horror. And Wangen- "r
heim's every act and every word typified this new and dreadful i
portent among the nations. Pan-Germany filled all his waking ■;
hours and directed his every action. The deification of his f
Emperor was the only religious instinct which impelled him. That ;.
aristocratic and autocratic organisation of German society which ;
represents the Prussian system was, in Wangenheim 's eyes,
something to be venerated and worshipped ; with this as the j^
ground work, Germany was inevitably destined, he beheved, to

A German Superman 3

rule tlio world. The great land-tAvning junker represented the
perfection of mankind ; " I would despise myself," liis closest
associate once told me. and this represented Wangenheim's
attitude as well, "if I had been born in a city." Wangcnheim
dixided mankind into two classes, the governing and the
governed ; and he ridiculed the idea that the upper could ever
be recruited from the lower. I recall with what unction and
enthusiasm he used to describe the Emperor's caste organisation
of German estates ; how he had made them non-transferable, and
had even arranged it so that the possessors, or the prospective
possessors, could not marry without the imperial consent. " In
this way," Wangenheim would say, " we keep our governing
classes pure, unmi.xed of blood." Like all of his social order,
Wangenheim worshipped the Prussian military system ; his
splendid bearing showed that he had himself served in the army,
and, in true German fashion, he regarded practically every
situation in life from a military standpoint. I had one curious
illustration of this when I asked Wangenheim one day why the
Kaiser did not visit the United States. " He would like to
immensely," he replied, " but it would be too dangerous. War
might break out when he was coming home and the enemy
would capture him." I suggested that that could hardly happen,
as the American Government would escort its guest home with
warships, and that no nation would care to run the risk of
involving the United States as Germany's ally ; but he still
thought that the military danger would make any such visit
impossible.

Upon him, upon more than almost any diplomatic repre-
sentative of Germany, depended the success of the Kaiser's
conspiracy for world domination. This German diplomat came
to Constantinople with a single purpose. For twenty years the
German Government had been cultivating the Turkish Empire.
All this time the Kaiser had been preparing for a world war, and
in this war it was destined that Turkey should play an almost
decisive part. Unless Germany should obtain the Ottoman
Empire as its ally, there was Httle chance that she could succeed
in a general European war. W^hen France had made her alliance
with Russia, tliis placed the man-power, 170,000,000, on her side,
in the event of a war with Germany. For more than twenty

irs Germany had striven diplomatically to detach Russia
.;..in this French alUance, but had failed. There was only one
way in wliich Germany could make valueless the Franco-Russian
alliance ; this was by obtaining Turkey as an ally. With
Turkey on her side, Germany could close the Dardanelles, the

J(

4 Secrets of the Bosphorus

only practical line of communication between Russia and her
Western allies. This simple act would depdve the Czar's army of
war munitions, destroy Russia economically by stopping her,
grain exports, her greatest source of wealth, and thus detach
Russia from her partners in the world war. Thus Wangenheim's
mission was to make it aosolutely certain that Turkey should
join Germany in the gieat contest that was impending.

Wangenheim believed that, should he succeed in accomplish-
ing this task, he would reap the reward which for years had
represented his final goal — the Chancellorship of the Empire.
His skill at establishing personal relations with the Turks
gave him a great advantage over his rivals. Wangen-
heim had precisely that combinatiQn of force, persuasiveness,
geniality, and brutality needed in dealing with the Turkish
character. I have emphasised his Prussian qualities ; yet
Wangenheim Vvras a Prussian not by birth but by development ;
he was a native of Thuringia, and, together vvith all the push, ambi-
tion, and overbearing traits of the Prussian, he had some of the
softer characteristics which we associatg^with Southern Germany.
He had one conspicuous quality, which is not Prussian at all —
that is, tact ; and for the most part he succeeded in keeping hisj
less agreeable tendencies under the surface and sho^^dng only his
more ingratiating side. He dominated not so much by brute
strength as by a mixture of force and amiability ; externally he |
was not a bully ; his manner was more insinuating than coercive ;
he won by persuasiveness, not by the mailed fist, but we who
knew him well understood that back of all his gentleness there
lurked a terrific, remorseless ambition. Yet the impression left
was not one of brutality, but of excessive animal spirits and good
nature. Indeed, Wangenheim had in combination the jovial
enthusiasm of a college student, the rapacity of a Prussian official,
and the happy-go-lucky quahties of a man of the world. I stiU
recall the picture of this huge figure of a man, sitting at th^
piano, improvising in some beautiful classic theme — and then
suddenly starting to pound out uproarious German drinking songs
or popular melodies. I still see him jumping on his horse on the
polo grounds, spurring the splendid animal to its speediest efforts
— never making sufficient speed, however, to satisfy the ambitious
sportsman. Indeed, in all his activities, grave and gay, Wangen
heim displayed this same restless spirit of the chase. Whether
he was flirting vvith the Greek ladies at Pera, or spending hours-
over the card-table at the Cercle d'Orient, or bending the Turkish
officials to his will in the interest of Germany, all life was to him
a game, which was to be played more or less recklessly, and ia

A German Superman 5

which the chances favoured the man who was bold and audacious
and v.ilhng to pin success or failure on a single throw. And tiiis
greatest game of all — that upon which was staked, as Bernhardi
has expressed it, " World empire or downfall " — Wangenheim
did not play languidly, as though it had been merely a duty to
wluch he had been assigned ; to use the German phrase, he was
" lire and flame " for it ; he had the consciousness that he was
a strong man set aside to perform a mighty task. As I write of
Wangenheim I feel myself affected by the force of his personality,
ytt 1 knew all the time that, hke the Government which he served
so loyally, he was fundamentally ruthless, shameless, and cruel.
He was content to accept all the consequences of his policy,
however hideous these might be. He saw only a single goal, and,
with all the reaUsm and logic that are so characteristically Ger-
man, Wangenheim would brush aside all feelings of humanity
and decency that might interfere with success. He accepted in
full Bismarck's famous dictum that a German must be ready to
sacrifice for Kaiser and Fatherland not only his life but his
honour as well.

Just as Wangenheim personified Germany, so did his col-
league, Pallavicini, personify Austria. Wangenheim 's essential
quality was a brutal egotism, wliilc Pallavicini was a quiet,
kind-hearted, deUghtfuhy-maimered gentleman. Wangenheim
was alw^ays looking to the future, Pallavicini to the past. Wangen-
heim represented that mixture of commercialism and medieval
lust for conquest that constitute Prussian wcltpoliiik; Pallavicini
was a diplomat left over from the days of Mctternich. " Ger-
many wants this ! " Wangenheim would insist, when an important
point had to be decided. " I shall consult my Foreign Office,"
the cautious Pallavicini would say, on a similar occasion. The
Austrian, with little upturned grey moustaches, with a rather
stiff, even shghtly strutting walk, looked like the old-fashioned
' Marquis that was once a stock figure on the stage. I might com-
' pare Wangenheim with the representative of a great business firm
, which was la\ ish in its expenditure and which obtained its
trade by generous entertaining, while his Austrian colleague
represented a house that prided itself on its past achieve-
ments and was entirely content with its position. The same
delight that Wangenheim took in Pan-German plans, Pallavicini
found in all the niceties and obscurities of diplomatic technique.
The Austri.'n had n presented his country in Turkey many
years, and was the dean of the corps, a dignity of which
lit; was extremely proud. He found his delight in upholding
all the honours of his position; he was expert in arranging

6 Secrets of the Bosphorus ^

the order of precedence at ceremonial dinners, and there was
not a single detail^ of etiquette that he did not have at his
fingers' ends. When it came to affairs of State, however, he
was merely a tool of Wangenheim. From the first, indeed, he
seemed to accept his position as that of a diplomat who was more
or less subject to the will of his more powerful ally. In this way
Pallavicini played to his German colleague precisely the same part
that his Empire was playing to that of the Kaiser. In the early
months of the war the bearing of these two men completely
mirrored the respective successes and failures of their countries.
As the Germans boasted of victory after victory Wangen-
heim's already huge and erect figure seemed to become larger and
more upstanding, while Pallavicini, as the Austrians lost battle
after battle to the Russians, seemed to become smaller and more
shrinking.

The situation in Turkey in these critical months seemed almost
to have been artificially created to give the fullest opportunities
to a man of Wangenheim's genius. For ten years the Turkish
Empire had been undergoing a process of dissolution, and had
now reached a state of decrepitude that had left it an easy prey
to German diplomacy. In order to understand the situation, we
must keep in mind that there was really no orderly estabhshed
Government in Turkey at that time. For the Young Turks were
not a Government ; they were really an irresponsible party, a
kind of secret society, which, by intrigue, intimidation and
assassination, had obtained most of the offices of administration, ji
When I describe the Young Turks in these words, perhaps I may
be dispelling certain illusions. Before I came to Turkey I had
entertained very different ideas of this organisation. As far back
as 1908 I remember reading news of Turkey that appealed
strongly to my democratic sympathies. These reports informed
me that a body of young revolutionists had swept from the
mountains of Macedonia, had marched upon Constantinople, had
deposed the bloody Sultan Abdul Hamid and had estabhshed a
constitutional system. Turkey, these glowing newspaper stories
told us, had become a democracy, with a parhament, a responsible
ministry, universal suffrage, equaUty of aU citizens before the
law, freedom of speech and of the press, and all the other
essentials of a free, liberty-loving commonwealth. That a
party of Turks had for years been strugghng for such reforms
I well knew, and that their ambitions had become realities
seemed to indicate that, after all, there w'as such a thing as
human progress. The long welter of massacre and disorder in
the Turkish Empire had apparently ended ; the great assassin,

A German Superman 7

Abdul Ilamid, had been removed to solitary confinement at ^
Saloniki ; and his brother, the gentle Mohammed V., had ^
ascended the throne as the first constitutional sovereign of —
Turkey. Such had been the promise, but by the time I ^
reached Constantinople, in 1913, many changes had taken ^
place. Austria had annexed two Turkish provinces, Bosnia •=
and Herzegovina ; Italy had wrenched away TripoU ; Turkey ^
had fought two wars with the Balkan states, and had lost all her
territories in Europe, except Constantinople and a small hinter-
land. The aims for the regeneration of Turkey that had inspired
the revolution had evidently miscarried, and I soon discovered that
four years of so-called democratic rule had ended with the nation ^
more degraded, more impoverished, and more dismembered than ^
I ever before. Indeed, long before I had arrived this attempt to "^
i establish a Turkish democracy had failed. The failure was
probably the most complete and the most disheartening in the
whole history of democratic institutions. I need hardly explain
in detail the causes of this failure. Let us not criticise too harshly .•*
the Young Turks, for there is no question that, at the beginning, "2:
they were sincere. In a speech in Liberty Square, Saloniki, in "^
July, 1908, Enver Pasha, who was popularly regarded as the '^
chivalrous young leader of this insurrection against a century- ^
old tjTanny, had eloquently declared that, " To-day arbitrary l,
government has disappeared. We are all brothers. There") *«
are no longer in Turkey Bulgaiians, Greeks, Serbians, Ru- t_
manians, Mussulmans, Jews. Under the same blue sky we are
all proud to be Ottomans." That statement represented the
Young Turk ideal for the new Turkish state, but it was an ideal
which it was evidently beyond their ability to translate into a
reality. The races which had been maltreated and massacred
for centuries by the Turks could not transform themselves
overnight into brothers, and the hatreds, jealousies, and rehgious
prejudices of the past still divided Turkey into a medley
of warring clans. Above all, the destructive wars and the loss
of great sections of the Turkish Empire had destroyed the
prestige of the new democracy. There were plenty of other
reasons for the failure ; but it is hardly necessary to go into them
at this time.

Thus the Young Turks had disappeared as a positive, regen-
erating force, but they still existed as a poUtical macliine. Their
leaders, Talaat, Enver, and Djemal, had long since abandoned
any expectation of reforming their State, but they had developc;d
an insatiable lust for personal power. Instead of a nation of
nearly 20,000,000 developing happily along democratic lines,

8 Secrets of the Bosphorus '

enjoying the suffrage, building up their industry and agriculture,
laying the basis of education, sanitation, and general progress, I
saw that Turkey consisted of merely so many inarticulate,
ignorant, and poverty-ridden slaves, with a small, wicked oli-
garchy at the top, which was prepared to use them in the way
that would best promote their private interests. And these men
were practically the same who, a few years before, had made
Turkey an institutional State ! A more bewildering fall from the
highest idealism to the crassest materialism could not be
imagined. Talaat, Enver, and Djemal were the ostensible
leaders, yet back of them was the Committee, consisting of about
forty men. This Committee met secretly, manipulated elections,
and filled the offices with their own henchmen. It had its own
building in Constantinople, and a supreme chief who gave all his
time to its affairs and issued orders to his subordinates. This
functionary thus ruled the party and the country something fike
an American city boss in our most unregenerate days. The
whole organisation thus furnished a splendid illustration of what
we sometimes describe as " invisible government." This kind of
irresponsible control has at times flourished in American cities
mainly because the citizens have devoted all their tim.e to their
private affairs and thus neglected the public good. But in
Turkey the masses were altogether too ignorant to understand
the meaning of democracy, and the bankruptcy and general
vicissitudes of the countrjr had left the nation with practically no
government and an easy prey to a determined band of adven-
turers. The Committee of Union and Progress, with Talaat Bey
as the most powerful leader, constituted such a band. Besides
the forty men in Constantinople, sub-committees were organised
in all important cities of the Empire. These men met secretly,
formulated their plans, distributed the patronage, and issued
orders to their appointees, who filled nearly all the important
offices. These men, like orthodox department heads in the worst
days of American city government, " took orders " and made the
appointments submitted to them. No man could hold an office,
high or low, who was not a part of this Committee.

I must admit, however, that I do our corrupt American gangs
a certain injustice in comparing them with the Turkish Committee
of Union and Progress. Talaat, Enver, and Djemal had added
to their system a detail that has not figured extensively in
American politics — that of assassination and judicial murder.
They had wrested power from the other factions by a deed of
violence. This coup d'etat had taken place on January 26, 1913,
not quite a year before my arrival. At that time a political group.

A German Superman 9

headed by the venerable Kiamil Pasha, as Grand Vizier, and
Nazim Pasha, as Minister of War, controlled the Government ;
they represented a faction known as the " liberal party," which
was chiefly distinguished for its enmity to the Young Turks.
These men had fought the disastrous Balkan war, and, in
January, they had felt themselves compelled to accept the advice
of the European Powers and surrender Adrianople to Bulgaria.
The Young Turks had been outside the breastworks for about six
months, looking for an opportunity to return to power. The
proposed surrender of Adrianople apparently furnished them this
opportunity. Adrianople was an important Turkish city, and
naturally the Turkish people regarded the contemplated surrender
as marking still another milestone to their national doom.
Talaat and Enver hastily collected about two hundred followers
and marched up to the Sublime Porte, where the ministry was
then sitting. Nazim, hearing the uproar, stepped out into the
hall. He courageously faced the crowd, a cigarette in his mouth
and his hands thrust into his pockets.

"Come, boys," he said good-humouredly, "what's all this
noise about ? Don't you know that it is interfering with our
deliberations ? "

The words had hardly left his mouth, when he fell dead. A
bullet had pierced a vital spot.

The mob, led by Talaat and Enver, then forced their way into
the Council Chamber. They forced Kiamil, the Grand Vizier — he
was more than eighty years old — to resign his post under threat
of meeting Nazim's fate.

As assassination had been the means by which these chieftains
had obtained the supreme power, so assassination continued to
be the instrument upon which they depended for maintaining
their control. Djemal, in addition to his other duties, was
Military Governor of Constantinople, and in this capacity he had
control of the police ; in this office he developed all the talents of a
Fouche, and did his work so successfully that any man who wished
to conspire against the Young Turks usually retired for that pur-
pose to Paris or Athens. The few months that preceded my arrival
had been a reign of terror. The Young Turks had destroyed
Abdul Hamid's regime only to adopt that Sultan's favourite
methods of quieting opposition. Instead of having one Abdul
Hamid, Turkey now discovered that she had several. Men were
arrested and deported by the score, and hangings of political
offenders — opponents, that is, of the ruling gang- were common
occurrences.

The weakness of the Sultan particularly facilitated the

10 Secrets of the Bosphorus

ascendancy of this Committee. We must remember that Moham-
med V. was not only Sultan but Caliph — not only the temporary
ruler, but also head of the Mohammedan Church. In this
capacity he was an object of veneration to milhons of devout
Mussulmans, a fact which would have given a strong man in his
position great influence in freeing Turkey from its oppressors. I
presume that even those who had the most kindly feelings
toward the Sultan would not have described him as an energetic,
masterful man. It is a miracle that the circumstances which
fate had forced upon Mohammed had not long since completely
destroyed him. His brother was Abdul Hamid — Gladstone's
"great assassin" — a man who ruled by espionage and blood-
shed, and who had no m.ore consideration for his own relations
than for his massacred Armenians. One of Abdul Hamid's first
acts, when he ascended the throne, was to shut up hi^ heir-
apparent in a palace, surrounding him with spies, Umiting
him for society to his harem and a few palace functionaries, and
constantly holding over his head the fear of assassination.
Naturally Mohammed's education had been limited ; he spoke
only Turkish, and his only means of learning about the outside
world was an occasional Turkish newspaper. So long as he
remained quiescent, the heir-apparent was comfortable and fairly
secure, but he knew that the first sign of revolt, or eve-n a too
curious interest in what was going on, would be the signal for his
death. Hard as this preparation was, it had not destroyed what
was at bottom a benevolent, gentle nature. The Sultan had no
characteristics that suggested the "terrible Turk." He was
simply a quiet, easy-going, gentlemanly old man. Everybody
liked him, and I do not think that he harboured ill-feeling against
a human soul. He could not rule his empire, for he had had no
preparation for such a difficult task ; he took a certain satisfac-
tion in his title and in his consciousness that he was a lineal
descendant of the great Osman ; clearly, however, he could not
oppose the schemes of the men who were then struggling for the
control of Turkey. In exchanging Abdul Hamid, as his master,
for Talaat, Enver, and Djemal, the Sultan had not greatly
improved his personal position. The Committee of Union and
Progress ruled him precisely as they ruled all the rest of Turkey —
by intimidation. They had shown their power when they
dethroned Abdul Hamid and locked him up in a palace, and poor
Mohammed naturally hved under the constant fear that they
would treat him similarly. Indeed, they had already given him
a sample of their power ; and the Sultan had attempted on one
occasion to assert his independence, and the conclusion of this

A German Superman ii

episode left no doubt as to who weis master. A group of thirteen
" conspirators " and other criminals, some real ones, others
merely political offenders, had been sentenced to be hanged.
Among them was the imperial son-in-law. Before the execution
could take place the Sultan had to sign the death-warrants. He
begged that he be permitted to pardon the imperial son-in-law,
though he raised no objection to viseing the passports of the other
twelve. The nominal ruler of 20,000,000 people figuratively went
down upon his knees before Talaat, but all his pleadings did not
affect this determined man. Here, Talaat reasoned, was a chance
to decide, once for all, who was master, the Sultan or themselves.
A few days afterward the melancholy figure of the imperial son-
in-law, dangling at the end of a rope in full view of the Turkish
populace, visibly reminded the Empire that Talaat and the Com-
mittee were the masters of Turkey. After this tragical test of
strength, the Sultan never attempted again to interfere in affairs
of State. He knew what had happened to Abdul Hamid, and he
feared an even more terrible fate for himself.

By the time I reached Constantinople the Young Turks thus
completely controlled the Sultan. He was popularly referred to
as an " irade-machine," a phrase which means about the same
thing as when we refer to a man as a " rubber stamp." His State
duties consisted merely in performing certain ceremonies, such as
receiving Ambassadors, and in affixing his signature to such
papers as Talaat and his associates placed before him. This was
a profound change in the Turkish system, since in that country
for centuries the Sultan had been an unquestioned despot, whose
will had been the only law, and who had centred in his own person
all the forces and sovereignty. Not only the Sultan, but the
ParUament, had become the subservient creature of the Com-
mittee, which chose practically all the members, who voted only
as the predoininant bosses dictated. The Committee had already
filled several of the most powerful Cabinet offices with its creatures,
and was reaching out for those few pests that, for several reasons,
still remained in other hands.

CHAPTER II

THE "BOSS system" IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND HOW IT
PROVED USEFUL TO GERMANY

Talaat, the leading man in this band of usurpers, really had
remarkable personal qualities. Naturally Talaat's life and
character proved interesting to me, for I had for years been
familiar with the Boss system in my own country, and in Talaat
I saw many resemblances to the crude yet able citizens who have
so frequently in the past gained power in local and State politics.
Talaat's origin was so obscure that there were plenty of stories in
circulation concerning it. One account said he was a Bulgarian
gypsy, while another described him as a Pomak — a Pomak being
a man of Bulgarian blood whose ancestors, centuries ago, had
embraced the Mohammedan faith. According to this latter
explanation, which I think was the true one, this real ruler of the
Turkish Empire was not a Turk at all. I can personally testify
that he cared nothing for Mohammedanism, for, like most of the
leaders of his party, he scoffed at all religions. " I hate all
priests, rabbis, and brodjas," he once told me — brodja being the
nearest equivalent the Mohammedans have for the ministers of
religion. I can also testify to the fact that Talaat paid no
attention to certain injunctions of his Church, especially that
against drinking ; he was the presiding genius of a club that met
not far from the American Embassy, whose tendencies were
occasionally bacchanalian. In American city politics a street-
car driver or a gas-man has not uncommonly developed great
abihties as a politician, and similarly Talaat had started hfe as a
letter-carrier. From this occupation he had risen to be a tele-
graph-operator at Adriancple, and of these humble beginnings he
was extremely proud. I visited him once or twice at his house.
Although Talaat was then the most powerful man in the Turkish
Empire, his home was still the modest home of a man of the
people. It was cheaply furnished ; the whole establishment
reminded me of a moderately-priced apartment in New York.
His most cherished possession was the telegraph instrument with
which he had once earned his living ; I have seen him take the
key and call up one of his personal friends or associates. Talaat
one night told me that he had that day received his salary as

The " Boss System " 13

Minist( r of the Tnterior ; after pa>'ing his debts, lie soid, he had just
one hundred dollars left in the world. He liked to spend part of
his spare time with the rough-shod crew that made up the Com-
mittee of Union and Progress ; in the interims when he was out of
the Cabinet he used to occupy the desk daily at party headquarters,
personally managing the party macliine. Despite these humble
beginnings. Talaat had developed some of the qualities of a man
of the world. Though his early training had not included
instruction in the use of a knife and fork — such implements are
wholly unknown among the poorer classes in Turkey — Talaat
■could attend diplomatic dinners and represent his country with a
considerable amount of dignity and personal ease. I have always
regarded it as indicating his innate cleverness that, though he had
had little schooling, he had picked up enough French to converse
tolerably in that language. Physically he was a striking figure.
His powerful frame, his huge, sweeping back and his rocky biceps
emphasised that natural mental strength and forcefulness which
made possible his career. In discussing matters Talaat Hked to sit
at his desk, with his shoulders drawn up, his head thrown back,
and his wrists, twice the size of an ordinary man's, planted firmly
on the table. It always seemed to me that it would take a crow-
bar to pry these wrists from the board, once Talaat 's strength
and defiant spirit had laid them there. Whenever I think of
Talaat now I do not primarily recall his rolhcking laugh, his
uproarious enjoyment of a good story, the mighty stride with
which he crossed the room, his fierceness, his determination,
his remorselessness — the whole life and nature of the man take
form in those gigantic wrists.

Talaat, like most strong men, had his forbidding, even his
ferocious, moods. One day " I found him sitting at the usual
place, his massive shoulders drawn up, his eyes glowering, his
wrists planted on the desk. I always anticipated trouble when-
ever I found him in this attitude. As I made request after
request, Talaat, between his puffs at his cigarette, would answer
"No! " "No! " "No! "

I slipped around to his side of the desk.

" I think those wrists are making all the trouble, your Ex-
cellency," I said. " Won't you please take them off the table ? "

Talaat 's ogre-like face began to crinkle, he threw up liis arms,
leaned back, and gave a roar of terrific laughter. He enjoyed my
method of treating him so much that he granted every request
I made.

At another time I came into his room when a couple of Arab
princes were present. Talaat was solemn and dignified, and

14 Secrets of the Bosphorus

refused every favour I asked. " No, I shall not do that. No,
I haven't the slightest idea of doing that," he would answer. I
saw that he was trjring to impress his princely guests, to show
them that he had become so great a man that he did not hesitate
to " turn down " an Ambassador. So I came up nearer and
spoke quietly.

" I see you are trying to make an impression on these princes,"
I said. " Now if it's necessary for you to pose, do it with the
Austrian Ambassador — he's out there waiting to come in. My
affairs are too important to be trifled with."

Talaat laughed. " Come back in an hour," he said. I came
back ; the Arab princes had left, and we had no difficulty in
arranging matters to my satisfaction.

" Someone has got to govern Turkey ; why not we ? "
Talaat once said to me. The situation had just about come to
that. " I have been greatly disappointed," he would tell me, " at
the failure of the Turks to appreciate democratic institutions.
I hoped for it once, and I worked hard for it- — but they were not
preparedf or it. " He saw a Government which the first enterprising
man who came along might seize, and he determined to be that
man. Of all the Turkish politicians I met, I regarded Talaat
as the only one who really had extraordinary innate ability.
He had great force and dominance, the ability to think quickly
and accurately, and an almost superhuman insight into men's
motives. His great geniality and his lively sense of humour also
made him a splendid manager of men. He showed his shrewd-
ness in the measures which he took, after the murder of Nazim,
to gain the upper hand in this distracted Empire. He did
not seize the Government all at once ; he went at it gradually/,
feeling his way. He realised the weaknesses of his position ; he
had several forces to deal with : the envy of his associates on
the revolutionary committee which had backed him, the army,
the foreign Governments, and the several factions that made up
what then passed for public opinion in Turkey. Any of these
elements might destroy him, politically and physically. He
understood the dangerous path he was treading, and he always
anticipated a violent death. " I do not expect to die in my bed,"
he told me. By becoming Minister of the Interior, Talaat gained
control of the police and the administration of the provinces, or
vilayets. This gave him a great amount of patronage, which he
used to strengthen his position with the Committee. He attempted
to gain the support of all influential factions by gradually placing
their representatives in the other Cabinet posts. Though he
afterwards became the man who was chiefly responsible for the

The " Boss System " 15

massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians, at this time
Talaat maintained the pretence that the Committee stood for
the unionisation of all the races in the Empire, and for this reason
his first Cabinet contained an Arab-Christian, a Dcnmme (a Jew
by race, but a Mohammedan by religion), a Circassian, an
Armenian, an Egyptian. He made the latter Grand Vizier, the
highest post in the Government, a position which roughly cor-
responds to that of Chancellor in the German Empire. The man
whom he selected for this part, which in ordinary times was the
most dignified and important in the Empire, belonged to quite a
different order of society from Talaat. Not uncommonly bosses
in America select high-class figure-heads for mayors or even
governors, men who will give respectabiUty to their faction yet
whom, at the same time, they think that they can control. It
was some such motive as this which led Talaat and his associates
to elevate Said Halim to the Grand Vizierate. Said Halim was
an Eg^^ptian Prince, the cousin of the Khedive of Egypt, a man
of great wealth and great culture. He spoke English and French
as fluently as his own tongue, and was an ornament to any
society in the world. But he was a man of unlimited vanity and
ambition. His great desire was to become Khedive of Egypt,
and this had led him to join his political fortunes to the gang that
was then ascendant in Turkey. He was the hea\iest " campaign
contributor," and, indeed, he had largely furnished the Young
Turks in their earliest days. In exchange they had given him the
highest office in the Empire, but with the tacit understanding
that he should not attempt to exercise the real powers of his
office, but content himself with enjo\'ing its dignities and holding
liimself in readiness for the Khedivate, when all their plans had
succeeded.

Germany's war preparations had for years included the
study of internal conditions in other countries. An indispensable
part of the Imperial programme had been to take advantage of
such disorganisations as existed to push her schemes of penetra-
tion and conquest. What her emissaries have attempted in
France, Italy, and even the United States, is apparent, and their
success in Russia has greatly changed the course of the war.
Clearly such a situation as that which prevailed in Turkey in 1913
and 1914 provided an ideal opportunity of manipulations of this
kind. And Germany had one great advantage in Turkey which
was not so conspicuously an element in other countries. Talaat
and his associates needed Germany almost as badly as Germany
needed Talaat. They were alt(jgether new to the business of
managing^an empire. Their finances were depleted, their army

i6 Secrets of the Bosphorus

and navy almost in dissolution, enemies were constantly attempt-
ing to undermine them at home, and the great Powers regarded
them as seedy adventurers whose career was destined to be brief.
With strong support from an outside source, it was doubtful how>
long the new regime could survive. Talaat and his Committee
needed some foreign Power to organise the army and navy,
to finance the nation, to help them reconstruct their industrial
system, and to protect them against the encroachments of
the encircling nations. Ignorant as they were of foreign
countries, they needed a skilful adviser to pilot them through all
the channels of international intrigue. Where was such a protector
to be obtained ? Evidently only one of the great European
Powers could perform this office. Which one should it be ?
Ten years before Turkey would naturally have appealed to
England. But now the Turks regarded England as merely the
nation that had despoiled them of 'Egypt, and that had failed to
protect Turkey from dismemberment after the Balkan wars. In
association with Russia, Great Britain now controlled Persia and
thus constituted a constant threat — at least, so the Turks believed
— against their Asiatic dominions. England was gradually with-
drawing her investments from Turkey ; English statesmen
believed that the task of driving the Turk from Europe was about
complete, and the whole Near- Eastern policy of Great Britain
hinged on maintaining the organisation of the Balkans as it had
been determined by the Treaty of Bucharest— a treaty which
Turkey refused to regard as binding and which she was deter-
mined to upset. Above all, the Turks feared Russia in 1914, just
as they had feared her ever since the days of Peter the Great.
Russia was the historic enemy, the nation which had given
freedom to Bulgaria and Rumania, which had been most active
in dismembering the Ottoman Empire, and which regarded
herself as the nation that was ultimately to possess Constan-
tinople. This fear of Russia, I cannot too much insist, was the
one factor which, above ever^^thing else, was forcing Turkey into
the arms of Germany. For more than half a century Turkey
had regarded England as her surest safeguard against Russian
aggression, and now England had become Russia's virtual ally.
There was even then a general belief, which the Turkish chieftains
shared, that England was entirely willing that Russia should
inherit Constantinople and the Dardanelles.

Though Russia in 1914 was making no such pretensions, at
least openly, the fact that she was crowding Turkey in other
directions made it impossible that Talaat and Enver should
look for support in that direction. Italy had just seized the last

\^

The " Boss System " 17

Turkisli pi"o\'nce in Africa — Tripoli — nnd at thiat moment was
holding Rhode<^ and other Turkish islands and was known to
cherish aggressive plans in Asia Minor. France was the ally of
Russia and Groat Britain, and was also constantly extending her
inlhience in Syria, in which province, indeed, slic had made great
plans for " penetration " with railroads, colonies, and con-
cessicns. The personal equation played an important part
in the ensuing drama. The Ambassadors of the Triple Entente
haidly concealed their contempt for the dominant Turkish
pohticians and their methods. Sir Louis Mallet, the British
Ambassador, was a high-minded and cultivated Enghsh gentle-
man ; Bompard. the Freixh Ambassador, was a similarly
clK'rming, honourable Frenchman, and both were constitution-
ally disquahfied from participating in the murderous intrigues
which then comprised Turkish pohtics. Giers, the Russian
Ambassador, was a proud and scornful diplomat of the old
aristocratic regime. He was exceedingly astute, but he treated
the Young Turks contemptuously, manifested almost a pro-
prietary interest in the country, and seemed to me already to be
\\'iclding the knout over this despised Government. It was quite
apparent that the three Ambassadors of the Entente did not re-
gard the Talaat and Enver regime as permanent, or as particularly
worth their while to cultivate. That several factions had risen and
fallen in the last six years they knew, and they likewise beUeved
that this latest usurpation would vanish in a few months.

But there was one active man in Turkey then who had no nice
scruples about using such agencies as were most available for
accomplishing his purpose. Wangenheim clearly saw what his
colleagues had only faintly perceived : that these men were
steadily fastening their hold on Turkey, and that they were
looking for some strong Power that would recognise their position
and abet them in maintaining it. In order that we may clearly
understand the situation, let us transport ourselves, for a moment,
to a country that is nearer to us than Turkey. In 1913 Vic-
toriano Huerta and his fellow-conspirators gained control of
Mexico by means not unlike those that had given Talaat and his
Committee the supreme power in Turkey. Just as Huerta
murdered Madero, so the Young Turks had murdered Nazim,
and in both cases assassination became a regular political weapon.
Huerta controlled the Mexican Congress and the offices just as
Talaat controlled the Turkish Parliament and the cliief posts of
the State. Mexico under Huerta was a poverty-stricken country',
with depleted finances, exhausted industries and agriculture, just
as was Turkey under Talaat. Hcnv did Hueria seek to secure his

C

i8 Secrets of the Bosphorus

own position and rehabilitate his distracted country ? There
was only one way, of course : that WcLS by enhsting the support of
some strong foreign Power. He sought repeatedly to gain
recognition from the United States for this reason. When we
refused to deal with a murderer, Huerta looked to Germany. Let
us suppose that the Kaiser had responded ; he could have
reorganised Mexican finances, rebuilt her railroads, re-established
her industries, modernised her army, and in this way obtained a
grip on the country that would have amounted to virtual
possession.

Only one thing prevented Germany from doing this — the
Monroe Doctrine. But there was no Monroe Doctrine in Turkey,
and what I have stated as a possibihty in Turkey is in the main
an accurate picture of what happened in the Ottoman Empire.
As I look back upon the situation, the whole thing seems so
clear, so simple, so inevitable. Germany, up to that time, was
practically the only great Power in Europe that had not appro-
priated large sHces of Turkish territory, a fact which gave her an
initial advantage. Germany's representation at Constantinople
was far better quahfied than that of any other country, not only
by absence of scruples, but also by knowledge and skill, to handle
this situation. Wangenheim was not the only capable German
then on the ground. A particularly influential outpost of
Pan-Germany was Paul Weitz, who had represented the Frank-
furter Zeitung in Turkey for thirty years. Weitz had the
most intimate acquaintance with Turks and Turkish affairs ;
there was not a hidden recess to which he could not gain ad-
mittance. He was constantly at Wangenheim's elbow, coaching
advising, informing. The German naval attache, Humann,
the son of a famous German archaeologist, had been born in
Smyrna, and had passed practically his whole Ufe in Turkey.
He not only spoke Turkish, but he could also think Hke a Turk,
and the whole psychology of the people was part of his mental
equipment. Moreover, Ej^jivii'one of the two main Turkish
chieftains, was on close friendly terms with Enver. When I
think of this experienced trio, Wangenheim, Weitz, and Hu-
mann, and of the charming and honourable gentlemen who
were opposed to them, Mallet, Bompard, and Giers, the events
that now rapidly followed seem as inevitable as the orderly
processes of nature. By the spring of 1914 Talaat and Enver,
representing the Committee of Union and Progress, practically
dominated the Turkish Empire. Wangenheim, always having
in mind the approaching war, had one inevitable move : that was
to control Talaat and Enver.

The " Boss System " 19

Earl}- in January, 1914, Enver Ixcamc Minister of War. At
tliat time he was tliirty-two years old. Like all the leading
Turkish politicians of the period, he came of humble stock, and his
pt)pular title, "hero of the revolution," shows why Talaat and
the Committee had selected him as Minister of War. Enver
enjoyed something of a mihtary reputation, though, so far
as I could discover, he had never achieved a great miUtary
success. The revolution of which he was one of the leaders in
1908 cost very few human lives ; he commanded an army in
Tripoli against the Itahans in 1912 — but certainly there was
nothing Napoleonic about that campaign. Enver used to tell me
himself how, in the second Balkan war, he had ridden all night
at the head of his troops to the capture of Adrianople, and how,
when he arrived there, the Bulgarians had abandoned it and his
(victory had thus been a bloodless one. But certainly Enver did
jhave one trait that made for success in such a distracted country
as Turkey — and that was audacity. He was quick in making
decisions, always ready to stake his future and his very life upon
the success of a simple adventure ; from the beginning, indeed,
his career had been one lucky crisis after another. His nature
had a remorselessness, a lack of pity, a cold-blooded determina-
tion, of which his clean-cut handsome face, his small but sturdy
ure, and his pleasing manners, gave no indication. Nor would
he casual spectator have suspected the passionate personal
mbition that drove him on. His friends commonly referred to
lim as " NapoleonUk " — the little Napoleon — and this nickname
really represented Enver's abiding conviction. I remember
sitting one night with Enver, in his house ; on one side hung a
>icture of Napoleon, on the other one of Frederick the Great,
and between them sat Enver himself ! This fact gives some
notion of his vanity ; these two warriors and statesmen were
his great heroes, and I beheve that Enver thought fate had
1 career in store for him not unlike theirs. The fact that, at
:wenty-six, he had taken a leading part in the revolution
which had deposed Abdul Hamid naturally caused him to
:ompare himself with Bonaparte, and several times has he
old me that he believed himself to be "a man of destiny."
Enver even affected to beUeve that he had been divinely set
apart to re-establish the glory of Turkey and make himself the
great dictator. Yet, as I have suggested, there wa«; sometliing
ahnost dainty and feminine in Enver's appearance. He was the
type that in America we sometimes call a matinee idol, and the
word women frequently used to describe liim was " dashing." His
face contained not a single line or furrow ; it never disclosed his

20 Secrets of the Bosphorus

emotions or his thoughts ; he was always cahn, steely, im-
perturbable. That Enver certainly lacked Napoleon's penetration
is evident from the way in which he had planned to obtain the
supreme power, for he early alhed his personal fortunes with
Germany. For years his sj'mpathies had been with the Kaiser.
Germany, the German Army and Navy, the German language, the
German autocratic sj'stem, exercised a fatal charm upon this early
preacher of Turkish democracy. When Hamid fell, Enver
had gone on a mihtary mission to Berlin, and here the Kaiser
immediately detected in him a possible instrument for working
out his plans in the Orient, and cultivated him in numerous
ways. Afterward Enver spent a considerable time in Berhn as
military attache, and this experience still further attached him
to Germany. The man who returned to Constantinople was
almost more German than Turkish. He had learned to speak
German fluently, he was aping Germany in all matters, he was
even wearing a moustache sUghtly curled up at the ends ; indeed,
he had been completely captivated by Prussianism. As soon as
Enver became Minister of War, Wangenheim flattered and I
cajoled the young man, played upon his ambitions, and doubtless
promised him Germany's complete support in achieving them.
In his private conversation Enver made no secret of his admira-
tion foi Germany.

Thus Enver's elevation to the Ministry of War w^as \irtually
a German victory. He immediately instituted a drastic reorgani-
sation. Enver told me himself that hs had accepted the post i
only on condition that he should have a fres hand ; and this free
hand he now proceeded to exercise. The army still contained a
large number of officers who inclined to the old regime rather
than to the Young Turks — many of whom were partisans of the
murdered Nazim. Enver promptly cashiered 26S of these, and
put in their places Turks who were known as " U. and P." men
and many Germans. The Enver-Talaat group always feared a
revolution that would depose them as they had thrown out their
predecessors. Many times did they tell me that their own
success as revolutionists had taught them how easily a few
determined men could seize control of the country ; they did
not propose, they said, to have a little group in their army
organise such a coup d'etat against them. The boldness of Enver's
move alarmed even Talaat, but Enver showed the determination
of his character and refused to reconsider his action, though one
of the officers removed was Chukri Pasha, who had defended
Adrianople in the Balkan war. Enver issued a circular to theijl
Turkish commanders practically telling them that they must look jp

It

The " Boss System " 21

to him for pnfonr.cnt alone, and that tiii-y could make no licad-
way bv playing politics with any group cxcrpt that dominated
h\ the Young Turks.

Thus, Enver's first acts were the beginnings in the Prussiafica-
tiiin of the Turkish Army, but Talaat was not an enthusiastic
Germcm like his associate. He had no intention of playing
Germany's game ; he was working chiefly for the Committee and
for himself. But he could not succeed unless he had control of
the army, and therefore he had made Enver, for years his
closest associate in " U. and P." politics, Minister of War.
Again, he needed a strong army if he was to have any at all, and
therefore he turned to the one source where he could find assist-
ance — to Germany. Wangenheim and Talaat, in the latter part
of 1913, had arranged that the Kaiser should send a miUtary
\ mission to reorganise the Turkish Army. Talaat told me that en
I calling in this mission he was using Germany, though Germany
' thought that it was using him. That there were definite dangers
[ in the move he well understood. A deputy who discussed this
I situation with Talaat in January, 1914, has given me a memoran-
dum of a conversation which shows well what was going on in
Talaat 's mind.

" Why do you hand the management of the country over to
the Germans? " asked this deputy, referring to the German
mihtar}' mission. " Don't j'ou see that this is part of Germany's
plan to make Turkey a German colony ? That we shall become
merely another Egypt ? "

" We understand perfectly," repUed Talaat, " that that is
Germany's programme. We also know that we cannot put this
rountry on its feet with our own resources. We shall, therefore,
t.'ke advantage of such technical and material assistance as the
r,t rmans ran place at our disposal. We shall use Germany to
help us reconstruct and defend the country until we are able to
govern ourselves with our own strength. When that day comes,
we can say good-bye to the Germans within twenty-four hours."
Certainl}^ the physical condition of the Turkish Army betrayed
the need of assistance from some source. The picture it pre-
sented, before the Germans arrived, I have always regarded as
portraj-ing the condition of the whole Empire. When I issued
invitations for my first reception a large number of Turkish
officials asked to be permitted to come in evening clothes ;
they said that they had no uniforms and no money with
which to purchase or to hire them. They had not received their
salaries for three and a half months. As the Grand Vizier, who
regulates the etiquette of such functions, still insisted on full

22 Secrets of the Bosphorus

military dress, many of these officials had to absent themselves.
About the same time the new German mission asked the Com-
mander of the Second Army Corps to exercise his men, but the
Commander replied that he could not do so as his men had no
shoes !

Desperate and wicked as Talaat subsequently showed himself
to be, I still think that he, at least then, was not a willing tool of
Germany. An episode that involved myself bears out this view.
In describing the relations of the great Powers to Turkey I have
said nothing about the United States. In fact, we had no
important business relations at that time. The Turks regarded
us as a country of ideahsts and altruists, and the fact that we spent
millions in building wonderful educational institutions in their
country purely from philanthropic motives aroused their astonish-
ment and possibly their admiration. They hked Americans and
regarded us as about the only disinterested friends whom they had
among the nations. But our interest in Turkey was small ; the
Standard Oil Company did a growing business, the Singer Com-
pany sold sewing machines to the Armenians, we bought much
of their tobacco, figs, and rugs, and gathered their Hquorice root.
In addition to these activities, missionaries and educational
experts were about our only contacts with the Turkish Empire.
The Turks knew that we had no desire to dismember their
country or to mingle in Balkan politics. The very fact that my
country was so disinterested was perhaps the reason why Talaat
discussed Turkish affairs so freely with me. In the course of
these conversations I frequently expressed my desire to serve
them, and Talaat and some of the other members of the Cabinet
got into the habit of consulting me on business matters. Soon
after my arrival, I made a speech at the American Chamber of
Commerce in Constantinople ; Talaat, Djemal, and other im-
portant leaders were present. I talked about the backward
economic state of Turkey, and admonished them not to be
discouraged. I described the condition of the United States
after the Civil War, and made the point that our devastated
Southern States presented a spectacle not unlike that of Turkey
at that present moment. I then related how^ we had gone to
work, realised on our resources, and built up the present thriving
nation. My remarks apparently made a deep impression,
especially my statement that after the Civil War the United
States had become a large borrower in foreign money markets
and had invited immigration from all parts of the world.

This speech apparently gave Talaat a new idea. It was not
impossible that the United States might furnish him the material

The " Boss System " 23

support which ho had been seeking in Europe. Already I had
suggested that an American financial expert should be sent to
studv Turkish finance, and in this connection I had mentioned
Mr. Henrv Bni^re, of New York— a suggestion which the Turks
had favourably received. At that time Turkey's greatest need
was monev. France had financed Turkey for many years, and
French bankers, in the spring of IQ14. were negotiating for
another large loan. Though Germany had made some loans, the
ccndition of the TVrlin money market at that time did not en-
courage the Turks to expect much assistance from that source.

In late December, 1913, Bustany Effendi, a Christian Arab,
and Minister of Commerce and Agriculture, who spoke English
fluently— he had been Turkish commissioner to the Chicago
World's Fair in 1803— called and approached me on the question
of an American loan. Bustany asked if there were not American
financiers who would take entire charge of the reorganisation of
Turkish finance. His plea was really a cry of despair and it
touched me deeply. As I \vrote in my diary at the time, " They
seem to be scraping the box for money." But I had been in
Turkey only six weeks, and obviously t had no information on
which I could recommend such a large contract to American
bankers. I informed him that my advice would not carry
much weight in the United States unless it were based on a
complete knowledge of economic conditions in Turkey. Talaat
came to me a few davs later, suggesting that I make a prolonged
tour over the Empire and study the situation at first hand.
Meanwhile he asked if I could not arrange a small temporary
loan to tide them over the interim. He said there was no
money in the Turkish Treasury ; if I could only get them
$5,000,000, that would satisfy them. I told Talaat that I would
try to get this money for them and that I would adopt his
suggestion and inspect his Empire with the possible idea of
interesting American investors. After obtaining the consent of
the State Department I wTote to my nephew and business
associate. Mr. Robert E. Simon, asking him to sound certain New
York institutions and bankers on making a small short-time
collateral loan to Turkey. Mr. Simon's investigations soon dis-
closed that a Turkish loan did not seem to be regarded as an
attractive business undertaking in New York. Mr. Simon wrote,
however, that Mr. C. K. G. Bilhngs had shown much interest in
the idea ; and that, if I desired, Mr. Bilhngs would come out in
his yacht and discuss the matter with the Turkish Cabinet and
with me. In a few days Mr. Billings had started for Con-
stantinople.

24 Secrets of the Bosphorus

The news of Mr. Billings's approach spread with great
rapidity all over the Turkish capital ; the fact that he was
coming in his own private yacht seemed to magnify the import-
ance and the glamour of the event. That a great American
millionaire was prepared to reinforce the depleted Turkish
Treasury and that this support was merely the preUminary step
in the reorganisation of Turkish finances by American capitalists
produced a tremendous flutter in the foreign embassies. So
rapidly did the information spread, indeed, that I rather suspected
that the Turkish Cabinet had taken no particular pains to keep
it secret. This suspicion was strengthened by a visit which I
received from the Chief Rabbi Nahoum, who informed me that
he had come at the request of Talaat. " There is a rumour,"
said the Chief Rabbi, " that Americans are about to make a loan
to Turkey. Talaat would be greatly pleased if you would not
contradict it." Wangenheim displayed an almost hysterical
interest ; the idea of America coming to the financial assistance of
Turkey did not fall in with his plans at all, for in his eyes Turkey's
poverty was chiefly valuable as a means of forcing the Empire
into Germany's hands. One day I showed Wangcnh?im a book
containing etchings cf Mr. Billings's homes, pictures, and horses ;
he showed a great interest, not only in the horses — ^Wangenheim
was something of a horseman himself — but in this tangible
evidence of great wealth. For the next few days ambassador after
ambassador and minister after minister filed into my office, each
solemnly asking for a glimpse at this book ! As the time
approached for Mr. Bilhngs's arrival Talaat began making
elaborate plans for his entertainment ; he consulted with me as
to whom we should invite to the proposed dinners, lunches, and
receptions. As usual, Wangenheim got in ahead of the rest.
He could not come to the dinner which we had planned, and asked
me to have him for lunch, and in this way he met Mr. Billings
several hours before the other diplomats. Mr. BilHngs frankly
told him that he was interested in Turkey and that it was not
unlikely that he v/ould make the loan.

In the evening we gave the Billings party a dinner, all the
important members of the Turkish Cabinet being present.
Before this dinner, Talaat, Mr. Billings, and myself had a long
talk about the loan. Talaat inform.ed us that the French
bankers had accepted their terms that very day, and that they
would, therefore, need no American money at that time. He was
exceedingly gracious and grateful to Mr. Billings and profuse in
expressing his thanks. Indeed, he might well have been, for
Mr. Billings's arrival enabled Turkey at last to close negotiations

The " Boss System " 25

with the French bankers. His attempt to express his apprecia-
tion had one curious manifestation. Enver, the second man in
the Cabinet, was celebrating his wedding when Mr. RilHngs
arrived. The progress which Enver was making in the Turkish
world is evidenced from the fact that, aUhough Enver, as I have
said, came of the humblest stock, his bride was a daughter of the
Turkish Imperial House. Turkish weddings are prolonged
affairs, lasting two or three days. The day following the
Embassy dinner Talaat gave the Billings party a luncheon at the
Cercle d 'Orient, and he insisted that Enver should leave his
wedding ceremony long enough to attend this function. Enver,
therefore, came to the luncheon, sat through all the speeches,
and then returned to his bridal party.

I am convinced that Talaat did not regard this Billings episode
as closed. As I look back upon this transaction I see clearly that
he was seeking to extricate his country, and that the possibihty
that the United States would assist him in performing the rescue
was ever present in his mind. He frequently spoke to me of Mr.
" Beelings," as he called him, and even after Turkey had broken
with France and England and was depending on Germany for
money, his mind still reverted to Mr. BiUings's visit.

CHAPTER III

" THE PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE KAISER —
WANGENHEIM OPPOSES THE SALE OF

AMERICAN WARSHIPS IN GREECE ^

But even in March, 1914, the Germans had pretty well tightened
their hold on Turkey. Liman von Sanders, who had arrived in
December, had become the predominant influence in the Turkish
Army. At first von Sanders's appointment aroused no particular
hostihty.f or German missions had been called in before to instruct
the Turkish Army, notably that of von der Goltz ; and an Eng-
lish naval mission, headed by Admiral Limpus, was even then in
Turkey attempting the difficult task of reorganising the Turkish
Navy. We soon discovered, however, that the Von Sanders
mihtary mission was something quite different from those which
I have named. Even before Von Sanders's arrival it had been
announced that he was to take command of the First Turkish
Army Corps, and that General Broussart von Schnellendorf was
to become Chief of Staff. The appointments signified nothing
less than that the Kaiser had almost completed his plans to annex
the Turkish Army to his own. To show the power which von
Sanders's appointment had given him, it is only necessary to say
that the First Army Corps practically controlled Constantinople.
These changes clearly showed to what an extent Enver Pasha
had become a cog in the Prussian system. Naturally the
representations of the Entente Powers could not tolerate such a
usurpation by Germany. The British, French, and Russian
Ambassadors immediately called upon the Grand Vizier and
protested with more warmth than politeness over von Sanders's
elevation. The Turkish Cabinet hummed and hawed in the
usual way, protested that the change was not important, but
finally withdrew von Sanders's appointment as head of the First
Army Corps, and made him Inspector-General. However, this
did not greatly improve the situation, for this post really gave
Von Sanders greater power than the one which he had held
before. Thus, by January, 1914, seven months before the
Great War began, Germany held this position in the Turkish
Army : a German general was Chief of Staff ; another was

"The Personal Representative of the Kaiser" 27

Inspector-General ; scores of German officers held commands
of the first importance, and the Turkish politician who was even
then an outspoken champion of Germany, Enver Bey, was
Minister of War.

After securing this diplomatic triumph Wangenheim was
granted a vacation — he had certainly earned it — and Giers, the
Russian Ambassador, went of? on a vacation at the same time.
Baroness Wangenheim explained to me — I was ignorant at this
time of all these subtleties of diplomacy— precisely what these
vacations signified. Wangenheim 's leave of absence, she said,
meant that the German Foreign Office regarded the von Sanders
episode as closed— and closed with a German \ictory. Giers 's
furlough, she explained, meant that Russia declined to accept
this point of \new. and that, so far as Russia was concerned, the
von Sanders affair had not ended. I remember writing to my
family that, in this mysterious Balkan diplomacy, the nations
talked to each other with acts, not words, and I instanced Baroness
Wangenheim's ex-planation of these diplomatic vacations as a
case in point.

An incident which took place in my own house opened all our
eyes to the seriousness with which von Sanders regarded this
military' mission. On February i8th I gave my first diplomatic
dinner ; General von Sanders and his two daughters attended,
the general sitting next to my daughter Ruth. My daughter,
however, did not have a very enjoyable time ; this German
Field-Marshal, sitting there in his gorgeous uniform, his breast all
sparkling with medals, did not say a word throughout the whole
meal. He ate his food silently and sulkily, all my daughter's
attempts to enter into conversation evoking only an occasional
surlv monosyllable. The beha\iour of this great military leader
was that of a spoiled child.

At the end of the dinner von Mutius, the German charge
d'affaires, came up to me in a high state of excitement. It was
some time before he could sufficiently control his agitation to
deliver his message.

" You have made^'a terrible mistake, Mr. Ambassador," he
said.

" What is that ? " I asked, naturally taken aback.

" You have greatly offended Field-Marshal von Sanders.
You have placed him at the dinner lower in rank than the
foreign Ministers. He is the personal representative of the
Kaiser, and as such is entitled to equal rank with the Ambassa-
dors. He should have been placed ahead of the Cabinet Ministers
and the Foreign Ministers."

28 Secrets of the Bosphorus

So I had affronted the Emperor himself ! This, then, was
the explanation of von Sanders's boorish behaviour. For-
tunately, my position was an impregnable one. I had not
arranged the seating precedence at this dinner ; I had sent the
list of my guests to the Marquis Pallavicini, the Austrian Am-
bassador and dean of the diplomatic corps, and the greatest
authority in Constantinople on such dehcate points as this. The
Marquis had returned the list, marking in red ink against each
name the order of precedence — i, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. I still possess
this document, as it came from the Austrian Embassy, and
General von Sanders's name appears with the numerals " 13 "
against it. I must admit, however, that " the thirteenth chair "
did bring him pretty well to the foot of the table.

I explained the situation to von Mutius and asked Mr.
Panfili, conseiller of the Austrian Embassy, who was a guest at
the dinner, to come up and make everything clear to the outraged
German diplomat. As the Austrians and Germans were allies,
it was quite apparent that the slight, if slight there had been, was
unintentional. Panfili said that he had been puzzled over the
question of von Sanders's position, and had submitted the
question to the Marquis. The outcome was that the Austrian
Ambassador had himself fixed von Sanders's rank at No. 13.
But the German Embassy did not let the matter rest there, for
afterward Wangenheim called on Palla\dcini, and discussed the
matter with considerable liveliness.

" If Liman von Sanders represents the Kaiser, whom do you
represent ? " Pallavicini asked Wangenheim. The argument
was a good one, as the Ambassador is always regarded as the
alter ego of his Sovereign.

"It is not customary," continued the Marquis, "for an
Emperor to have two representatives at the same Court."

As the Marquis was unyielding, Wangenheim carried the
question to the Grand Vizier. But Said Hahm refused to assume
responsibility for so momentous a decision and referred the
dispute to the Council of Ministers. This body solemnly sat upon
the question and rendered this verdict : von Sanders should rank
ahead of the Ministers of foreign countries, but below the mem-
bers of the Turkish Cabinet. Then the foreign Ministers lifted
up their voices in protest. Von Sanders not only became
exceedingly unpopular for raising this question, but the dicta-
torial and autocratic way in which he did it aroused general
disgust. The Ministers declared that, if von Sanders were ever
given precedence at any function of this kind, they would leave
the table in a body. The net result was that von Sanders was

"The Personal Representative of the Kaiser" 29

never again invited to a diplomatic dinner. Sir Louis Mallet,
the British Ambassador, took a sardonic interest in the episode.
It was lucky, he said, that it had not happened at his Embassy ;
if it had, the newspapers would have had columns about the
strained relations between England and Germany !

After all, this proceeding did have great international im-
portance. Von Sanders's personal vanity had led him to betray
a diplomatic secret ; he was not merely a drill master who had
been sent to instruct the Turkish Army ; he was precisely what
he had claimed to be — the personal representative of the Kaiser.
The Kaiser had selected him just as he had selected Wangenheim,
as an instrument for working his will in Turkey. Afterward von
Sanders told me, with all that pride which German aristocrats
manifest when speaking of their imperial master, how the Kaiser
had talked to him a couple of hours the day he had appointed
him to this Constantinople mission, and how, the day that he had
started, Wilhclm had spent another hour giving him final
instructions. I reported this dinner incident to my Government
as indicating Germany's grovsing ascendancy in Turkey, and I
presume the other Ambassadors likewise reported it to their
Governments. The American military attache. Major John
R. M. Taylor, who was present, attributed the utmost significance
to it. A month after the occurrence he and Captain McCauley,
commanding the Scorpion, the American stationaire at Constan-
tinople, had lunch at Cairo with Lord Kitchener. The luncheon
was a small one, only the Americans, Lord Kitchener, his sister,
and an aide making up the party. Major Taylor related this
incident, and Kitchener displayed much interest.

" What do you think it signifies ? " asked Kitchener.

" I think it means," Major Taylor said, " that when the big
war comes, Turkey will probably be the ally of Germany. If she
is not in direct alliance, at least I think that she will mobiUse on
the line of the Caucasus and thus divert three Russian army corps
from the European theatre of operations."

Kitchener thought for a moment and then said, " I agree
with you."

And now for several months we had before our eyes this
spectacle of the Turkish Army actually under the control of
Germany. German officers drilled the troops daily — all, I am
now convinced, in preparation for the approaching war. Just
what results had been accomplished appeared when, in July,
there was a great military review. The occasion was a splendid
and a gala affair. TIh; Sultan attended in state ; he sat under a
beautifully decorated tent and held a littlecourt, and the Khedive

30 Secrets of the Bosphorus

of Egypt, the Crown Prince of Turkey, the Princes of the imperial
blood and the entire Cabinet were also on hand. We now saw
that, in the preceding six months, the Turkish Army had been
completely Prussianised. What in January had been an un-
disciphned, ragged rabble was now parading with the goose-step ;
the men were clad in German field-grey, and they even wore a
casque-shaped head-covering, which sUghtly suggested the
German pickelhaube. The German officers were immensely
proud of the exhibition, and the transformation of the wretched
Turkish soldiers of January into these neatly-dressed, smartly-
stepping, splendidly manoeuvring troops was really a creditable
military achievement. When the Sultan invited me to his tent I
naturally congratulated him upon the excellent showing of his
men. He did not manifest much enthusiasm ; he said that he
regretted the possibihty of war ; he was at heart a pacifist. I
noticed certain conspicuous a bsences from this great German fte,
for the French, British, Russian, and Italian Ambassadors had
kept away. Bompard said that he had received his ten tickets
but that he did not regard that as an invitation. Wangenheim
told me, with some satisfaction, that the other Ambassadors
were jealous, and that they did not care to see the progress which
the Turkish Army had made under German tutelage. I did not.
have the shghtest doubt that these Ambassadors refused to
attend because they had no desire to grace this German hoHday ;
nor did I blame them.

Meanwhile I had other evidences that Germany was playing
her part in Turkish poHtics. In June the relations between
Greece and Turkey reached the breaking-point. The Treaty of
London (May 30, 1913) had left Greece in possession of the islands
of Chios and Mitylene. A reference to the map discloses the
strategic importance of these islands. They stand there in the
iEgean Sea hke guardians controlling the Bay and the great port
of Smyrna, and it is quite apparent that any strong military nation
which permanently held these vantage points would ultimately
control Smj'Tua and the whole iEgean coast of Asia Minor. The
racial situation made the continued retention of these islands by
Greece a constant mihtary danger to Turkey. Their population
was Greek and had been Greek since the days of Homer ; the
coast of Asia Minor itself was also Greek ; more than half the
population of Smyrna, Turkey's greatest Mediterranean seaport,
was Greek ; in its industries, its commerce, and its culture the
city was so predominantly Greek that the Turks usually referred
to it as giaour Ismir — "infidel Smj^na." Though this Greek
population was nominally Ottoman in nationality, it did not

"The Personal Representative of the Kaiser " 31

conceal its affection for the Greek fatherland, these Asiatic
Greeks e\-en making contributions to the Greek Government.
The /Egean islands and the mainland, in fact, constituted
Gruccia Irredenta, and that Greece was determined to redeem
them, precisely as she had recently redeemed Crete, was no
diplomatic secret. Should the Greeks ever land an army on
this Asia Minnr coast, there was little question that the native
Greek pupulatiun would welcome it enthusiastically and co-
operate with it.

Since Germany, however, had her own plans for Asia Minor,
naturally the Greeks in this region formed a barrier to Pan-
German aspirations. As long as this region remained Greek it
formed a natural obstacle to Germany's road to the Persian
Gulf, precisely as did Serbia. Anyone who has read even
cursorily the hterature of Pan-Germania is familiar with the
pecuhar German method which German publicists have advocated
for deaUng with populations that stand in Germany's way.
That is, by deportation. The violent shifting of w'hole peoples
from one part of Europe to another, as though they were so
many herds of cattle, has for years been part of the Kaiser's
plans for German expansion. This is the treatment which,
since the war began, Germany has apphedto Belgium, to Poland,
to Serbia, and its most hideous manifestation, as I shall show,
has been to Armenia. Acting under Germany's prompting,
Turkey now began to apply this principle of deportation to
her Greek subjects in Asia Minor. Three years afterw^ards
the German Admiral Usedom, who had been stationed in the
Dardanelles dunng the bombardment, told me that it was the
• rermans " who urgently made the suggestion that the Greeks be
moved from the sea-shore." The German motive. Admiral
Usedom said, was purely mihtary. Whether Talaat and his
associates reahsed that they were playing the German game I am
not sure, but there is no doubt that the Germans were con-
stantly instigating them in this congenial task.

The events that followed foreshadowed the policy adopted in
the Armenian massacres. The Turkish officials pounced upon
tlie Greeks, herded them in groups and marched them toward
lie ships. They gave them no time to settle their private
-Ufairs, and they took no pains to keep famihes together. The
plan was to transport the Greeks to the wholly Greek islands in
the i-Egean. Naturally the Greeks rebelled against such treat-
ment, and occasional massacres were the result, especially in
Phocaea, where more than hfty people were murdered. The
Turks demanded that all foreign establishments in Smyrna

32 Secrets of the Bosphorus

dismiss their,, Greek employes — and replace them with Moslems.
Among other American concerns, the Singer Manufacturing
Compan}? received such instructions, and though I interceded
and obtained sixty days' delay, ultimately thi'^ American
concern had to obey the mandate. An official boycott was
estabUshed against all Christians, not only in Asia Minor, but
in Constantinople, but this boycott did not discriminate against
the Jews, who have always been more popular with the Turks
than have the Christians. The officials particularly requested
Jewish merchants to put signs over their doors indicating their
nationality and trade — such signs as "Abraham the Jew, tailor,"
" Isaac the Jew, shoemaker," and the like. I looked upon this
boycott as illustrating the topsy-turvy national organisation of
Turkey, for here we had a nation engaging in a commercial
boycott against its own subjects.

This procedure against the Greeks not improperly aroused my
indignation. I did not have the sUghtest suspicion at that time
that the Germans had instigated these deportations, but I looked
upon them merely as an outburst of Turkish ferocity and
chauvinism. By this time I knew Talaat well ; I saw him nearly
every day and he used io discuss practically every phase of
international relations with me. I objected vigorously to his
treatment of the Greeks ; I told him that it would make the worst
possible impression abroad and that it affected American interests.
Talaat explained liis national poHcy ; these different hlocs in the
Turkish Empire, he said, had always conspired against Turkey ;
because of the hostihty of these native populations, Turkey had
lost province after province — Greece, Serbia, Rumania, Bulgaria,
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Egypt, and TripoH. In this way the
Turkish Empire had dwindled almost to the vanishing point.
If what was left of Turkey was to survive, added Talaat, he
must get rid of these alien peoples."'^'^ " Turkey for the Turks " was
now Talaat 's controlHng idea. Therefore he proposed to Turkify
Smyrna and the adjoining islands. Already 40,000 Greeks had
left, and he asked me again to urge on American business houses
to employ only Turks. He said that the accounts of violence and
murder had been greatly exaggerated, and suggested that a com-
mission be sent to investigate. " They want a commission to
whitewash Turkey," Sir Louis Mallet, the British Ambassador,
told me. True enough, when this commission did bring in its
report, it exculpated Turkey.

The Greeks in Turkey had one great advantage over the
Armenians, for there was such a thing as a Greek Government,
which naturally had a protecting interest in them. The Turks

urn

*v-

^'

^, inry^rwii'ii'rfff^^ rriitTi'r-'i"'"ir '"'■*

15; I roll, \\':iriL'riili(im. ( .ciiiiaii Ainl)a.ssa<l(ir

[To fac(p. 32

M. Tocheff, Bulgarian Minister at Constantinople

♦• The Personal Representative of the Kaiser " 33

knew that these deportations would precipitate a war with
Greece ; in fact, they welcomed such a war and were preparing
for it. So enthusiastic were the Turkisli people that they had
raised money by popular subscriptum and had purchased a
Brazilian dreadnought which was then under construction in
England. The Government had ordered also a second dread-
nought in England, and several submarines and destroyers in
France. The purpose of these naval preparations was no secret
in Constantinople. As soon as they obtained these ships, or
even the one dreadnought which was nearing completion,
Turkey intended to attack Greece and take back the islands.
A single modern battleship like the Sultan Osman — this was the
name the Turks had given the Brazilian vessel — could easily
overpower the whole Greek Navy and control the ^Egean Sea.
As this powerful vessel would be finished and commissioned in
a few months we all expected the Greco-Turkish war to break
out in the fall. What could the Greek Nav}^ possibly do in face
of this impending danger ?

!. Such was the situation when, early in June, I received a most
agitated visitor. This was Djemal Pasha, the Turkish Minister
of Marine, and one of the three men who then dominated the
Turkish Empire. I have hardly ever seen a man who appeared
more utterly worried than was Djemal on this occasion. As he
l)egan talking excitedly to my interpreter in French, his whiskers
trembhng with his emotions and his hands wildly gesticulating,
he seemed to be almost beside himself. I knew enough French
to understand what he was saving, and the news which he
brought— this was the first I had heard of it— sufficiently ex-
plained his agitation. The American Government, he said, was
negotiating with Greece for the sale of two battleships, the Idaho
and the Mississippi. He urged that I should immediatelv move
to prevent any such sale. His attitude was that of a suppliant ;
he begged, he implored that I should intervene. All along, he
said, the Turks regarded the United States as their best friend.
I had frequently expressed my desire to Help them ; well, here
was the chance to show our good feeling. The fact that Greece
and Turkey were practically on the verge of war, said* Djemal,
really made the sale of the ships an unneutral act. Still, if the
transaction were purely a commercial one, Turkey would like a
chance to bid. " We 'will pay more than Greece," he added.
He ended with a powerful plea that I should at once cable my
Government about the matter, and this I promised to do.

Evidently the clever Greeks had turned the tables on their
enemy. Turkey had rather too boldly advertised her intention

34 Secrets of the Bosphorus

of attacking Greece as soon as she had received her dreadnought.
Both the ships for which Greece was now negotiating were
immediately available for battle ! The Idaho and Mississippi
were not indispensable ships for the American Navy ; they could
not take their place in the first line of battle ; they were powerful
enough, however, to drive the whole Turkish Navy from the
lEgQaxi. Evidently the Greeks did not intend politely to post-
pone the impending war until the Turkish dreadnought had been
finished, but to attack as soon as they received these American
ships. Djemal's legal point, of course, had no validity. How-
ever much war might threaten, Turkey and Greece were still
actually at peace. Clearly Greece had just as much right to
purchase warships in the United States as Turkey had to purchase
them in Brazil or England.

But Djemal was not the only statesman who attempted to
prevent the sale ; the German Ambassador displayed the
keenest interest. Several days after Djemal's visit Wangenheim
and I were riding in the hills north of Constantinople. Wangen-
heim began to talk about the Greeks — to whom he displayed a
violent antipathy — about the chances of war, and the projected
sale of American warships. He made a long argument about the
sale, his reasoning being precisely the same as Djemal's — a fact
which aroused my suspicions that he had himself coached
Djemal for his interview with me.

" Just look at the dangerous precedent you are establishing,"
said Wangenheim. " It is not unlikely that the United States
may some time find itself in a position like Turkey's to-day.
Suppose that you were on the brink of war with Japan ; then
England could sell a fleet of dreadnoughts to Japan. How would
the United States like that ? "

And then he made a statement which indicated what really
lay back of his protest. I have thought of it many times in the
last three years. The scene is indeUbly impressed on my
mind. There we sat on our horses ; the silent, ancient forest of
Belgrade lay around us, while in the distance the Black Sea
glistened in the afternoon sun. Wangenheim suddenly became
quiet and extremely earnest. He looked in my eyes and said :

" I don't think that the United States realises what a serious
matter this is. The sale of these ships might be the cause that
would bring on a European war."

This conversation took place on June 13 ; this was about six
weeks before the conflagration broke out. Wangenheim knew
perfectly well that Germany was rushing preparations for this
great conflict, and he also knew that the preparations were not yet

•' The Personal Representative of the Kaiser " 35

entirely complete. Like all the German Ambassadors, Wangen-
heim had received instructions not to let any crisis arise that
would precipitate war until all these preparations had been
finished. He had no objection to the expulsion of the Greeks,
for that in itself was part of these preparations ; he was much
disturbed, however, over the prospect that the Greeks might
succeed in arming themselves and clisturbing existing conditions
in the Balkans. At that moment the Balkans were a smouldering
volcano. Europe had gone through two Balkan wars without
becoming generally involved, and Wangcnheim knew that
another would set the whole continent ablaze. He knew that
war was coming, but he did not want it just then. He was
simply attempting to influence me at that moment to gain a little
more time for Germany.

He went so far as to ask me to cable personally to the Presi-
dent, explain the seriousness of the situation, and to call his
attention to the telegrams that had gone to the State Department
on the proposed sale of the ships. I regarded his suggestion as
an impertinent one and declined to act upon it.

To Djemal and the other Turkish officials wlio kept pressing
me I suggested that their Ambassador in Washington should
directly take up the matter with the President. They acted on
this advice, but the Greeks again got ahead of them. At two
o'clock, June 22nd, the Greek charge d'affaires at Washington
and Commander Tsouklas, of the Greek Nav}', called upon the
President and arranged the sale. As they left the President's
office the Turkish Ambassador entered — just fifteen minutes too
late !

I presume that Mr. Wilson consented to the sale because he
knew that Turkey was preparing to attack Greece and believed
that the Idaho 3.nd Mississippi would prevent such an attack and
so preserve peace in the Balkans.

Acting under the authorisation of Congress, the Administra-
tion sold these ships on July 8, 1914, to Fred J. Gauntlett for
$12,535,276.98. Congress immediately voted the money realised
from the sale to the construction of a great modern dreadnought,
the California. Mr. Gauntlett transferred the ships to the Greek
Government. Rechristened the Kilkis and the Lcmnos, these
Ijattleships immediately took their places as the most powerful
vessels in the Greek Navy, iind the enthusiasm of the Greeks in
obtaining them was unl>:.unded.

By this time we had moved frc m the Embassy to our summer
home on the Bosphorus. All the summer Embassies were
located there, and a more beautiful spot I have never seen. Our

36 Secrets of the Bosphorus

house was a three-storey building, something in the Venetian
style ; behind it the cliff rose abruptly, with several terraced
gardens towering one above the other. The building stood so
near the shore and the waters of the Bosphorus rushed by so
rapidly that when we sat outside, especially on a moonlight
night, we had almost a complete illusion that we were sitting on
the deck of a fast saihng-ship. In the daytimxe the Bosphorus,
here little more than a mile wide, was alive with gaily-coloured
craft. I recall this animated scene with particular vividness
because I retain in my mind the contrast it presented a few
months afterward, when Turkey's entrance into the war had the
immediate result of closing this strait. Day by day the huge
Russian steamships, on their way from Black Sea ports to
Smyrna, Alexandria, and other cities, made clear the importance
of this little strip of water, and explained the bloody contests of
the European nations, extending over a thousand years, for its
possession. However, these early summer months were peaceful ;
all the Ambassadors and Ministers and their families were thrown
constantly together ; here daily gathered the representatives of
all the Powers that for the last three years have been grappHng
in history's bloodiest war, all then apparently friends, sitting
around the same dining-tables, walking arm-in-arm upon the
porches. The Ambassador of one Power would most graciously
escort into dinner the wife of another whose country was perhaps
the most antagonistic to his own. Little groups would form
after dinner ; the Grand Vizier would hold an impromptu reception
in one corner. Cabinet Ministers would be whispering in another ;
a group of Ambassadors would discuss the Greek situation out
on the porch ; the Turkish officials would glance quizzically upon
the animated scene and perhaps comment quietly in their own
tongue ; the Russian Ambassador would ghde alDout the room,
pick out someone whom he wished to talk to, lock arms and push
him into a corner for a surreptitious tete-d-Ute. Meanwhile our
sons and daughters, the junior members of the diplomatic corps,
and the officers of the several stalionaires, dancing and flirting,
seemed to think that the whole proceeding had been arranged
solely for their amusement. And to reahse while all this was
going on that neither the Grand Vizier nor any of the other high
Turkish of&cials would leave the house without outriders and
bodyguards to protect them from assassination — whatever other
emotions such a vibrating atmosphere might arouse, it was
certainly alive with interest. I felt also that there was something
electric about it all ; war was ever the favourite topic of con-
versation ; everyone seemed to realise that this peaceful,

" The Personal Representative of the Kaiser " 37

fri\(jlous life was transitory, and that at any moment might come
the spark that was to set everything aflame.

Yet, wluMi the crisis came, it produced no immediate sensation.
On June 29th we heard of the assassination of the Grand Duke
of Austria and his consort. Evi-rybody received the news cahnly ;
there was, indeed, a stunned feeUng that something momentous
had happened, but there was practically no excitement. A day
or two after this tragedy I had a long talk with Talaat on
diplomatic matters ; he made no reference at all to this event.
I think now that we were all affected by a kind of emotional
paralysis — as we were nearer the centre than most people, we
certainly realised the dangers in the situation. In a day or two
our tongues seemed to have been loosened, for we began to talk
— and to talk war. When I saw von Mutius, the German charge,
and Weitz, the diplomat-correspondent of the Frankfurter
Zeitung, they also discussed the impending conflict, and again
they gave their forecast a characteristically Germanic touch ;
when war came, they said, of course the United States would
take advantage of it to get all the Mexican and South American
trade !

When I called upon Pallavicini to express my condolences
over the Grand Duke's death, he received me with the most
stately solemnity. He was conscious that he was representing
the imperial family, and his grief seemed to be personal ; one
would think that he had lost his own son. I expressed my
abhorrence and that of my nation for the deed, and our sym-
pathy with the aged Emperor.

" Ja, ja, esistsehr schrecklich " (Yes, yes, it is very terrible), he
answered, almost in a whisper.

" Serbia will be condemned for her conduct," he added.
" She wtU be compelled to make reparation."

A few days later, when Pallavicini called upon me, he spoke
of the nationalistic societies that Serbia had permitted to exist
and of her determination to anne.x Bosnia and Herzegovina. He
said that his Government would insist on the abandonment of
these societies and these pretensions, and that probably a
punitiv^e expedition into Serbia would be necessary to prevent
such outrages as the murder of the Grand Duke. Herein I had
my first intimation of the famous ultimatum of July 22nd.

The entire diplomatic corps attended the requiem mass for
the Grand Duke and Duchess, celebrated at the Church of Sainte
Marie on July 4. The church is located in the Grande Rue do
Pera, not far from the Austrian Embassy ; to reach it we had to
descend a flight of forty stone steps. At the top of these stairs

38 Secrets of the Bosphorus

representatives of the Austrian Embassy, dressed in full uniform,
with cr6pe on the left arm, met us, and escorted us to our seats.
All the Ambassadors sat in the front pew ; I recall this with
strange emotions now, for it was the last time that we ever sat
together. The service was dignified and beautiful ; I remember
it with especial vividness because of the contrasting scene that
immediately followed. When the stately, gorgeously-robed
priests had finished, we all shook hands with the Austrian
Ambassador, returned to our automobiles, and started on our
eight -mile ride along the Bosphorus to the American Embassy.
For this day was not only the day when we paid our tribute to the
murdered heir of this medieval autocracy ; it was also the Fourth
of July. The very setting of the two scenes symbolised these
two national ideals,. I always think of this ambassadorial group
going down those stone steps to the church to pay their respect
to the Grand Duke, and then going up to the gaily-decorated
American Embassy to pay their respect to the Declaration of
Independence. All the station ships of the foreign countries
lay out in the stream, decorated and dressed in honour of our
national hoUday ; and the Ambassadors and Ministers called in
full regalia. From the upper gardens we could see the place
where Darius crossed from Asia with his Persian hosts 2,500
years before— one of those ancient autocrats the line of
which is not j^et entirely extinct. There also we could see
magnificent Robert College, an institution that represented
America's conception of the way to "penetrate " the Turkish
Empire. At night our gardens were illuminated with Chinese
lanterns and good old American fireworks, lighting up the
surrounding hills and the Bosphorus, and the American flag
flying at the front of the house seemed almost to act as a
challenge to the plentiful reminders of autocracy and oppression
w-hich we had had in the early part of the day. Not more than
a mile across the water the dark and gloomy hills of Asia, for
ages the birthplace of military despotisms, caught a faint, and,
I think, a prophetic, glow from these illuminations.

In glancing at the little ambassadorial group at the church,
and later at our reception, I was surprised to note that one
famihar figure was missing. Wangenheim, Austria's ally, was
not present. This somewhat puzzled me at the time, but
afterward I had the explanation from Wangenheim 's own lips.
He had left some days before for Berlin. The Kaiser had
summoned liim to an Imperial Council, v/liich met on July 5th,
and which decided to plunge Europe into war.

CHAPTER IV

GEKMANY MOBILISES THE TURKISH ARMY

In reading the August newspapers which described the mobilisa-
tions in Europe, I was particularly struck with the emphasis
which they laid upon the splendid spirit that was overnight
changing the civilian populations into armies. At that time
Turkey had not entered the war, and her poUtical leaders were
loudly protesting their intention to maintain a strict neutrality.
Despite these pacific statements, the occurrences in Constan-
tinople were almost as warlike as those that were taking place in
the European capitals. Though Turkey was at peace, her army
was mobihsing, merely, as we were told, as a precautionary
measure. Yet the daily scenes which I witnessed in Constanti-
nople bore few resemblances to these w hich were taking place
in Europe. The martial patriotism of men and the sublime
patience and sacrifice of women may sometimes give war
an heroic aspect, but in Turkey the prospect was one of general
listlessness and misery. Day by day the miscellaneous Ottoman
hordes passed through the streets. Arabs, bootless and shoe-
less, dressed in their most gaily-coloured garments, with long
linen bags, containing the required five days' rations, thrown
over their shoulders, shambhng in their gait and bewildered
in their manner, touched shoulders with equally dispirited
Bedouins, evidently suddenly snatched from the desert. A
motley aggregation of Turks, Circassians, Greeks, Kurds,
Armenians, and Jews, showing signs of having been summarily
taken from their farms and shops, constantly jostled one another.
Most were ragged, and many looked half-starved ; ever^-thing
about them suggested hopelessness and a cattle-like submission
to a fate which they knew they could not avoid. There was no
joy of approaching battle, no feeling that they were sacrificing
themselves for a mighty cause ; day by day they passed, the
unwilling children of a tatterdemalion empire that was making
one last despairing attempt ta gird itself for action.

These NSTotched marchers Uttlc realised what was the power
that was dragging them from the four corners of their country.
Even we of the diplomatic group had not then clearly grasped
the real situation. We learned afterwards that the signal for

40 Secrets of the Bosphorus

this mobilisation had not come originallyj'.from Enver or Talaat
or the Turkish Cabinet, but the Greneral Staff in BerUn and its
representatives in Constantinople, Liman von Sanders and
Bronsart, were really directing the variegated operation. There
were unmistakable signs of German activity. As soon as the
German armies crossed the Rhine work was begun on a mammoth
wireless station a few miles outside of Constantinople. The
materials all came from Germany by way of Rumania, and the
mechanics, industriously working from daybreak to sunset, were
unmistakably Germans. Of course, the neutraUty laws would
have prohibited the construction of a wireless station for a
belUgerent in a neutral country like Turkey ; it was therefore
officially announced that a German company was building this
heaven-pointing structure for the Turkish Government and on
the Sultan's own property. But this story deceived no one.
Wangenheim, the German Ambassador, spoke of it freely and
constantly as a German enterprise.

" Have you seen our wireless yet ? " he would ask me,
" Come on, let's ride up there and look it over."

He proudly told me that it was the most powerful in the
world — powerful enough to catch all messages sent by the Eiffel
Tower in Paris ! He said that it would put him in constant
communication with Berlin. So Uttle did he attempt to conceal
its German ownership that several times, when ordinary tele-
graphic communication was suspended, he offered to let me use it
to send my telegrams.

Tliis wireless plant was an outward symbol of the close though
unacknowledged association which then existed between Turkey
and Beilin. It took some time to finish such an extensive
station, and in the interim Wangenheim was using the apparatus
on the Corcovado, a German merchant-ship which was lying in
the Bosphorus opposite the German Embassy. For practical
purposes, Wangenheim had a constant telephone connection with
Berlin.

German officers were almost as active as the Turks themselves
in this mobilisation. They enjoyed it all immensely ; indeed, they
gave every sign that they were having the time of their hves.
Bronsart, Humann, and Lafferts were constantly at Enver 's
elbow, advising and directing the operations. German officers
were rushing through the streets every day in huge automobiles,
all requisitioned from the civiHan population ; they filled all the
restaurants and amusement places at night and celebrated their
joy in the situation by consuming large quantities of champagne
— also requisitioned. A particularly spectacular and noisy

Germany Mobilises the Turkish Army 41

figure was tliat of von dcr Goltz Paslia. He was constantly
making a kind of viceregal progress through the streets in a huge
and madly-dashing automobile, on both sides of which flaring
German eagles were painted. A trumpeter on the front seat
would blow loud, deliant blasts as the conveyance rushed along,
and woe to anyone, Turk or non-Turk, who happened to get in
the way ! The Germans made no attempt to conceal their con-
viction that they owned this town. Just as Wangenheim had
established a little Wilhelmstrasse in his Embassy, so had the
German miUtary men estabUshed a sub-station of the BerUn
General Staff. They even brought their wives and families from
Gemiany ; I heard Baroness Wangenheim remark that she was
holding a little court of her own.

The Germans, however, were about the only people who were
enjojang this proceeding. The requisitioning that accompanied
the mobilisation really amounted to a wholesale looting of the
civilian population. The Turks took all the horses, mules,
camels, sheep, cows, and other beasts that they could lay their
hands on, Enver teUing me that they had gathered in 150,000
animals. They did it most intelhgently, making no provision for U^
the continuance of the species ; thus they would leave only two
cows or two mares in many of the villages. This system of
requisitioning, as I shall describe, had the inevitable result of
destrojing the nation's agriculture, and ultimately led to the
starvation of hundreds of thousands of people. But the Turks,
hke the Germans, thought that the war was destined to be a very
^^hort one, and that they would quickly recuperate from the
injuries which their methods of supplying an army were causing
their peasant population. The Government showed precisely
the same shamelessness and lack of intelligence in the way that
they requisitioned materials from merchants and shopmen.
These proceedings amounted to httle less than conscious high-
waymanship. But practically none of these merchants were
Moslems ; most of them were Christians, though there were a few
Jews, and the Turkish of&cials therefore not only provided the
needs of their army, and incidentally lined their own pockets, but
ihey found a rehgious joy in pillaging the infidel estabUshments.
They would enter a retail shop, take practically all the merchan-
dise on the shelves, and give merely a piece of paper in acknow-
ledgment. As the Government had never paid for the supplies
which it had taken in the Italian and Balkan Wars, the merchants
liardly expected that they would ever receive anytliing for these
latest reqmsitions. Afterward, many who understood officialdom,
and were poUtically influential, did recover to the extent of

42 Secrets of the Bosphorus

70 per cent. — what became of the remaining 30 per cent, is not a
secret to those who have had experience with Turkish bureaucrats.

Thus, for most of the population, requisitioning simply meant
financial ruin. That the process was merely pillaging is shown
by many of the materials which the army took, ostensibly for the
use of the soldiers. Thus the officers seized all the mohair they
could find; on occasion they even carried off women's silk stock-
ings, corsets, and babies' shppers, and I heard one case in which
they reinforced the Turkish commissary with caviar and other
delicacies. They demanded blankets from one merchant who
was a dealer in women's underwear ; because he had no such
stock, they seized what he had, and he afterward saw his appro-
priated goods reposing in rival establishments. The Turks did
the same thing in many other cases. The prevailing system was
to take movable property wherever available and convert it into
cash ; where the money ultimately went I do not know, but that
many private fortunes M^ere made I have httle doubt. I told
Enver that this ruthless method of mobilising and requisitioning
was destroying his country. Misery and starvation soon began
to afflict the land. Out of 4,000,000 adult male population more
than 1,500,000 were ultimately enlisted, and so about a million
families were left without breadAdnners, all of them in a condition
of extreme destitution. The Turkish Government paid its
soldiers 25 cents a month, and gave the families a separation
allowance of $1.20 a month. As a result, thousands were d5ing
from lack of food and many more were enfeebled by malnutrition.
I believe that the Empire has lost a quarter of its Turkish
population since the war started. I a.sked Enver why he per-
mitted his people to be destroyed in this way. But sufferings like
these did not distress him. He was much impressed by his
success in raising a large army with practically no money —
something, he boasted, which no other nation had ever done
before. In order to accomphsh this, Enver had issued orders
which stigmatised the evasion of military service as desertion,
and therefore punishable with the death penalty. He also
adopted a scheme by which any Ottoman could obtain exemption
by the payment of about $190. Still, Enver regarded his
accomplishment as a notable one. It was really his first taste of
unlimited power, and he enjoyed the experience greatly.

That the Germans directed this mobilisation is not a matter
of opinion but of proof. I need only instance that the Germans
were requisitioning materials in their own name for their own
use. I have a photographic copy of such a requisition made by

Germany Mobilises the Turkish Army 43

Humaiin, the German naval attache, lor a shipload of oil-cake.
Tiiis document is dated September 29, 1914. " The lot by the
steamship Dcrindjc which you mentioned in your letter of the
.:')th." this paper reads, " has been requisitioned by me for the
German Government." Tliis clearly shows that, a month before
Turkey had entered the war, Germany was really exercising the
powers 01 sovereignty at Constaiitinc^ple.

CHAPTER V

>y

WANGENHEIM SMUGGLES THE " GOEBEN AND THE
"BRESLAU" THROUGH THE DARDANELLES

On August loth I went out on a little launch to meet the Sicilia,
a small ItaUan ship which had just arrived from Venice. I was
especially interested in this vessel because she was bringing to
Constantinople my daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs.
Maurice Wertheim, and their three httle daughters. The greeting
proved even more interesting than I had expected. I found the
passengers considerably excited, for they had witnessed, the day
before, a naval engagement in the Ionian Sea.

" We were lunching yesterday on deck," my daughter told
me, " when I saw two strange-looking vessels just above the
horizon. I ran for the glasses and made out two large battle-
ships, the first one with two queer exotic-looking towers, and the
other one quite an ordinary-looking battleship. We watched
and saw another ship coming up behind them and going very fast.
She came nearer and nearer, and then we heard guns booming.
Pillars of water sprang up in the air and there were many httle
puffs of white smoke. It took me some time to realise what it
was all about, and then it burst upon me that we were actually
witnessing an engagement. The ships continually shifted their
position, but went on and on. The two big ones turned and
rushed furiously for the Httle one, and then apparently they
changed their minds and turned back. Then the little one turned
around and calmly steamed in our direction. At first I was
somewhat alarmed at this, but nothing happened. She circled
around us with her tars excited and grinning, and somewhat
grimy. They signalled to our captain many questions, and then
turned and finally disappeared. The captain told us that the
.two big ships were Germans which had been caught in the
Mediterranean and which were tr5ang to escape from the British
fleet. He says that the British ships are chasing them all over
the Mediterranean, and that the German ships are trying to get
into Constantinople. Have you seen anything of them ? Where
do you suppose the British fleet is ? "

A few hours afterward I happened to meet Wangenheim.

The " Goeben " and the ♦' Breslau " 45

When I told him what Mrs. Wortheim had seen, he displayed an
agitated interest. Immediately after lunch he called at the
American Embassy with Pallavicini, tlic Austrian Ambassador,
and asked for an interview with my daughter. The two Am-
bassadors solemnly planted themselves in chairs before Mrs.
Wcrthcim and subjected her to a most minute, though very
polite, cross-examination. " I never felt so important in my
life," she afterwards told me. They would not permit her to
leave out a single detail ; they wished to know how many shots
had been fired, what direction the German ships had taken, what
everybody on board Jiad said, and so on. The visit seemed to
give these alhed Ambassadors immense reUef and satisfaction,
for they left the house in an almost jubilant mood, behaving as
though a great weight had been taken off their minds. And
certainly they had good reason for their elation. My daughter
liad been the means of giving them the news wliich they had
desired to hear above ever^'tliing else — that the Goeben and the
Breslau had escaped the British fleet and were then steaming
rapidly in the direction of the Dardanelles.

For it was those famous German ships, the Goeben and the
Breslau, which my daughter had seen engaged in battle with a
British scout ship !

The next day official business called me to the German
Embassy. But Wangenheim's animated manner soon disclosed
that he had no interest in routine matters. Never had I seen him
so nervous and so excited. He could not rest in his chair more
than a few minutes at a time ; he was constantly jumping up,
rushing to the window, and looking anxiously out toward the
Bosphorus where his private wireless station, the Corcovado, lay
about three-quarters of a mile away. Wangenheim's face was
flushed and his eyes were shining ; he would stride up and down
the room, speaking now of a recent German victory, now giving
me a little forecast of Germany's plans, and then he would stalk
to the window again for another look at the Corcovado.

" Something is seriously distracting you," I said, rising. " I
will go, and come again some other time."

" No, no ! " the Ambassador almost shouted. " I want you
to stay right where ^rm are. This will be a great day for Ger-
many ! If you will only remain for a few minutes you will hear
a great piece of news— something that has the utmost bearing
upon Turkey's relation to the war."

Then he rushed out on the portico and leaned over the
balustrade. At the same moment I saw a httle launch put out
from the Corcovado toward the Ambassador's dock. Wangenheim

46 Secrets of the Bosphorus

hurried down, seized an envelope from one of the sailors, and
a moment afterward burst into the room again.

" We've got them ! " he shouted to me.

" Got what ? " I asked.

" The Goehen and the Breslaii have passed through the
Dardanelles ! "

He was waving the wireless message with all the enthusiasm
of a college boy whose football team has won a victory.

Then, momentarily checking his enthusiasm, he came up to
me solemnly, humorously shook his forefinger, lifted his eyebrows,
and said, " Of course, you understand that we have sold those
ships to Turkey !

" And Admiral Souchon," he added with another wink, " will
enter the Sultan's service ! "

Wangenheim had more than patriotic reasons for this exulta-
tion ; the arrival of these ships was the greatest day in his
diplomatic career. It was really the first diplomatic victory
which Germany had won. For years the Chancellorship of the
Empire had been Wangenheim's laudable ambition, and he
behaved now like a man who saw his prize within his grasp. The
voyage of the Goehen and the Breslau was his personal triumph ;
he had arranged with the Turkish Cabinet for their passage
through the Dardanelles, and he had directed their movements by
wireless in the Mediterranean. By safely getting the Goehen and
the Breslau into Constantinople, Wangenheim had definitely
clinched Turkey as Germany's ally. All his intrigues and
plottings for three years had now finally succeeded.

I doubt if any two ships have exercised a greater influence
upon history than these two German cruisers. Not all of us at
that time fully realised their importance, but subsequent develop-
ments have fully justified Wangenheim's exuberant satisfaction.
The Goehen was a powerful battle-cruiser of recent construction,
the Breslau was not so large a ship, but she, Uke the Goehen, had
the excessive speed that made her extremely serviceable in those
waters. These ships had spent the few months preceding the war
cruising in the Mediterranean, and when the declaration finally
came they were taking on supplies at Messina. I have always
regarded it as more than a coincidence that these two Vessels,
both of them having a greater speed than any French or English
ships in the Mediterranean, should have been lying not far from
Turkey when war broke out. The selection of the Goehen was
particularly fortunate, as she had twice before visited Con-
stantinople and her officers and men knew the Dardanelles
perfectly. The behaviour of these crews, when the news of war

The " Goeben " and the " Breslau " 47

was received, indicated tlie spirit with wliich tlic German Navy
began hostilities ; the men broke out into song and shouting,
lifted their admiral upon their shoulders, and held a real GeiTnan
jollification. It is said tliat Admiral Sr.uchon preserved, as a
touching souvenir of this (xcasion, his white uniform beaxing the
finger-prints of his grimy sailors ! For all their joy at the
prospect of battle, the situation of these ships was still a pre-
carious one. They formed no m.atch for the large British and
French naval forces which were roaming through the Mediter-
ranean. The Goeben and the Breslau were far from their native
bases ; witli the coaHng problem such an acute one, and with
England in possession of all important stations, where could they
flee for safety- ? Several ItaUan destroyers were circling around
the German ships at Messina, enforcing neutrality and occasion-
ally reminding them that they could remain in port only twenty-
four hours. England had ships stationed at the Gulf of Otranto,
the head of the Adriatic, to cut them off in case they sought to
escape into the Austrian port of Pola. The British Navy also
stood guard at Gibraltar and Suez, the only other exits that
apparently offered the possibihty of escape. There w^as only one
other place in which the Goeben and the Breslau might find a safe
and friendly reception. That was Constantinople. Apparently
the British Navy dismissed this as an impossibiUty. At that
time, early in August, international law had not entirely dis-
appeared as the guiding conduct of nations. Turkey was then
a neutral countiy, and, despite the many evidences of Germari
domination, she seemed likely to maintain her neutrality. The
Treaty of Paris, which was signed in 1856, as well as the Treaty
of London, signed in 1S71, provided that warships should not use
the Dardanelles except on the special permission of the Sultan,
which permission could be granted only in times of peace. In
practice the Government had seldom given this permission
except for ceremonial occasions. In the existing conditions it
would have amounted virtually to an unfriendly act for the
Sultan to have removed the ban against war vessels in the
Dardanelles, and to permit the Goeben and the Breslau to remain
in Turkish waters for more than twenty-four hours would have
been nothing less than a declaration of war. It is, perhaps, not
surprising that the British in the early days of August, 1914,
when Germany had not completely made clear her official opinion
that "international law had ceased to exist." regarded these
treaty stipulations as barring the German sliips from the Dar-
danelles and Constantinople. Relying upon the sanctity of these
international regulations, the British Navy had shut off every

48 Secrets of the Bosphorus

point through which these German ships could have escaped to
safety — except the entrance to the Dardanelles. Had England,
immediately on the declaration of war, rushed a powerful squadron
to this vital spot, how different the history of the last three years
might have been !

" His Majesty expects the Goeben and the Breslau to succeed

in breaking through ! " Such was the wireless that reached these

vessels at Messina at five o'clock in the evening of August 4th.

The twenty-four hours' stay permitted by the Italian Government

had nearly expired. Outside, in the Strait of Otranto, lay the

force of British battle-cruisers, sending false radio messages to

the Germans instructing them to rush for Pola. With bands

playing and flags flying, the officers and crews having had their

spirits fired by speeches and champagne, the two vessels started

at full speed head on toward the awaiting British fleet. The httle

Gloucester, a scout boat, kept in touch, wiring constantly the

German movements to the main squadron. Suddenly, when off

Cape Spartivento, the Goeben and the Breslau let off into the

atm.osphere all the discordant vibrations which their wireless

could command, jamming the air with such a hullabaloo that the

Gloucester was unable to send any intelligible messages. Then

the German cruisers turned south and made for the ^Egean Sea.

The plucky little Gloucester kept close on their heels, and, as my

daughter had related, had even once audaciously offered battle.

A few hours behind the British squadron pursued, but uselessly,

for the German ships, though far less powerful in battle, were

much speedier. Even then the British admiral probably thought

that he had spoiled the German plans. The German ships might

get first to the Dardanelles, but at that point stood international

law across the path and barring the entrance !

Meanwhile Wangenheim had accomplished his great diplo-
matic triumph. From the Corcovado wireless station in the
Bosphorus he was sending the most agreeable news to Admiral
Souchon. He was teUing him to hoist the Turkish flag when he
reached the Strait, for Admiral Souchon's cruisers had suddenly
become parts of the Turkish Navy, and, therefore, the usual
international prohibitions did not apply ! These cruisers were
no longer the Goeben and the Breslau, for, like an oriental
magician, Wangenheim had suddenly changed them into the
Sultan Selim and the Medilli. The fact was that the German
Ambassador had cleverly taken advantage of the existing
situation to manufacture a " sale." As I have already told,
Turkey had two dreadnoughts under construction in England

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The " Goeben " and the " Breslau " 49

when the war broke out. These ships were not exclusively
governmental enterprises ; their purchasers represented what, on
the surface, appeared to be a popular enthusiasm of the Turkish
people. They were to be the agencies through which Turkey was
to attack Greece and win back the islands of the ^Egean, and the
Turkish people had raised the money to build them by a so-called
popular subscription. Agents had gone from house to house,
painfully collecting these small subscriptions; there had been
entertainments and fairs, and, in their eagerness for the cause,
Turkish w'omen had sold their hair for the benefit of the common
fund. These two vessels thus represented a spectacular outburst
of patriotism that was unusual in Turkey, so unusual, indeed,
that many detected signs that the Government had stimulated it.
At the very moment when the war began Turkey had made her

Llast payment to the Enghsh shipyards and the Turkish crews had
arrived in England prepared to take the finished vessels home.
Then, very soon before the time set to dehver them, the British

^ Government stepped in and commandeered these dreadnoughts
for the British Navy.

,*iXx There is not the shghtest question that England had not only
a legal, but a moral, right to do this ; there is also no question that
her action was a proper one, and that, had she been deaUng with
almost any other nation, such proceeding would not have aroused
any resentment. But the Turkish people cared nothing for
distinctions of this sort ; all they saw was that they had two
ships in England, which they had greatly strained their resources
to purchase, and that England had now stepped in and taken
them. Even without external pressure they would have resented
the act, but external pressure was exerted in plenty. The
transaction gave Wangenheim the greatest opportunity of his
hfe. Violent attacks upon England, all emanating from the
German Embassy, began to fill the Turkish Press. Wangenheim
was constantly discoursing to the Turkish leaders on Enghsh
perfidy. He now suggested that Germany, Turkey's good friend,
was prepared to make compensation for England's " unlawful "
seizure. He suggested that Turkey go through the form of
"purchasing" the Goeben and the Breslau, which were then
wandering around the Mediterranean, perhaps in anticipation of
this very contingency, and incorporate them m the Turkish Navy
in place of the appropriated ships in England. The very day
that these vessels passed through the Dardanelles the Ikdam, a
Turkish newspaper pubUshed in Constantinople, had a triumphant
account of this "sale," with big headlines calhng it a "great
success for the Imperial Government."

E

50 Secrets of the Bosphorus

Thus Wangenheira's manoeuvre accomplished two purposes :

it placed Germany before the populace as Turkey's friend, and it

also provided a subterfuge for getting the ships through the

Dardanelles and enabhng them to remain in Turkish waters.

AU this beguiled the more ignorant part of the Turkish people,

and gave the Cabinet a plausible ground for meeting the objection

of Entente diplomats, but it did not deceive any inteUigent

person. The Goeben and Breslau might change their names, and

the German sailors might adorn themselves with Turkish fezzes,

but we all knew from the beginning that this sale was a sham.

Those who understood the financial condition of Turkey could

only be amused at the idea that she could purchase these modern

vessels. Moreover, the ships were never incorporated in the

Turkish Navy ; on the contrary, what really happened was that

the Turkish Navy was annexed to these German ships. A

handful of Turkish sailors was placed on board at one time for

appearance' sake, but their German officers and German crews

still retained active charge. Wangenheim, in his talks with me,

never made any secret of the fact that the ships still remained

German property. " I never expected to have such big cheques

to sign," he remarked one day, referring to his expenditures on the

Goeben and the Breslau. He always caUed them " our " ships.

Even Talaat told me in so many words that the cruisers did not

belong to Turkey.

" The Germans say they belong to the Turks," he remarked,
with his characteristic laugh. " At any rate it's very comforting
for us to have them here. After the war, if the Germans win,
they will forget all about it and leave the ships to us. If the
Germans lose, they won't be able to take them away from us ! "
The German Government made no real pretension that the
sale had been bond fide ; at least, when the Greek Minister at
BerUn protested against the transaction as unfriendly to Greece
— naively forgetting the American ships which Greece had
recently purchased — the German officials soothed him by
admitting, sotto voce, that the ownership stiU resided in Germany.
Yet when the Entente Ambassadors constantly protested against
the presence of the German vessels, the Turkish officials blandly
kept up the pretence that they were integral parts of the Turkish
Navy !

The German officers and crews greatly enjoyed this farcical
pretence that the Goeben and the Breslau were Turkish ship.
They took particular delight in dressing themselves up in Turkish
uniforms and Turkish fezzes, thereby presenting to the world
conclusive evidence that these loyal soldiers of the Kaiser were

The " Goeben " and the " Breslau " 51

now parts of the Sultan's Navy. One day the Goeben sailed up
the Bosphorus, halted in front of the Russian Embassy, and
dropped anchor. Then the officers and men hncd the deck in
full view of the enemy Ambassador. All solemnly removed their
Turkish fezzes and put on German caps. The band played
'' Deutschland uber Alles," the " Watch on the Rhine," and other
German songs, the German sailors singing loudly to the accom-
paniment. When they had spent an hour 01 two serenading the
Russian Ambassador, the officers and crews removed their Ger-
man caps and again put on their Turkish fezzes. The Goeben
then picked up her anchor and started south to her station,
lea\dng in the ears of the Russian diplomat the gradually dying
strains of German war songs as the cruiser disappeared down
stream.

I have often speculated on what would have happened if the
Enghsh battle-cruisers, which pursued the Breslau and Goeben
up to the mouth of the Dardanelles, had not been too gentle-
manly to have violated international law. Suppose that they
had entered the Strait, attacked the German cruisers in the
Marmora, and sunk them. They could have done this, and,
knowing all that we know now, such an action would have been
justified. Not improbably the destruction would have kept
Turkey out of the war. For, the arrival of these cruisers made
it inexatable that Turkey should join her forces with Germany's
when the proper moment came. With them the Turkish Navy
became stronger than the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and thus made
it certain that Russia could make no attack on Constantinople.
The Goeben and the Breslau, that is, practically gave the Ottoman-
German naval forces control of the Black Sea. Moreover, these
two ships could easily dominate Constantinople, and thus
furnish the means by which the German Navy, if the occasion
arose, could terrorise the Turks. I am convinced that, when the
judicious historian reviews this war and its consequences, he will
say that the passage of the Strait by these German ships made it
inevitable that Turkey should join Germany at the moment that
Germany desired her assistance, and that they likewise sealed
the doom of the Turkish Empire. There were men in the
Turkish Cabinet who perceived this, even then. The story was
told in Constantinople — though I do not vouch for it as authentic
history — that the Cabinet Meeting at which this momentous
decision had been made had not been altogether harmonious.
The Grand Vizier and Djemal, it was said, objected to the
fictitious "sale," and demanded that it should be made a real
one. When the discussion had reached its height Enver, who

52 Secrets of the Bosphorus *

was playing Germany's game, announced that he had already
practically completed the transaction. In the silence that
followed his statement this young Napoleon pulled out his pistol
and laid it on the table.

" If anyone here wishes to question this purchase," he said
quietly and icily, " I am ready to meet him."

A few weeks after the Goeben and the Breslau had taken up
permanent headquarters in the Bosphorus, Djavid Bey, Minister
of Finance, happened to meet a distinguished Belgian jurist, then
in Constantinople.

" I have terrible news for you," said the sympathetic Turkish
statesman. " The Germans have captured Brussels."

The Belgian, a huge figure, more than six feet high, put his
arm soothingly upon the shoulder of the diminutive Turk.

" I have even more terrible news for you," he said, pointing
out to the stream where the Goeben and the Breslau lay anchored.
" The Germans have captured Turkey."

CHAPTER VI

VVANGENHEIM TELLS THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR HOW
THE KAISER STARTED THE WAR

But there was one quarter in which this transaction produced no
appreciable gloom. That was the German Embassy. This great
"success" fairly intoxicated the impressionable Wangenheim,
and other happenings now aroused his furor TetUonicus to a fever-
heat. The Goeben and the Breslaii arrived almost at the same
time that the Germans captured Li^ge, Namur, and other Belgian
towns. And now followed the German sweep into France and
the apparently triumphant rush to Paris. In all these happen-
ings Wangenheim, like the militant Prussian that he was, saw the
fulfilment of a forty years' dream. We were all still li\dng in the
summer Embassies along the Bosphorus. Germany had a
sumptuous palace, with elaborate buildings and a beautiful park,
which the Sultan had personally presented to the Kaiser's
Government, yet for some reason Wangenheim did not seem to
enjoy his headquarters during these summer days. A little
guard-house stood directly in front of his Embassy, on the street,
within twenty feet of the rushing Bosphorus, and in front of this
was a stone bench. This bench was properly a resting-place for
the guard, but Wangenheim seemed to have a strong hking for it.
I shall always keep in my mind the figure of this German dip-
lomat, in those exciting days before the Marne, sitting out on
this little bench, now and then jumping up for a stroll back and
forth in front of his house. Everybody passing from Con-
stantinople to the northern suburbs had to pass this road, and
even the Russian and French diplomats frequently went by,
stiffly ignoring, of course, the triumphant ambassadorial figure on
his stone bench. I sometimes think that Wangenheim sat there
for the express purpose of puffing his cigar smoke in their direc-
tion. It all reminded me of the scene in Schiller's Wilhelm Tell,
where Tell sits in the mountain-pass, with his bow and arrow at
his side, waiting for his intended victim, Gessler, to go by :

" Here through this deep defile he needs must pass ;
There leads no other road to Kussnacht."

Wangenheim would also buttonhole his friends, or these whom

54 Secrets of the Bosphorus

he regarded as his friends, and have his little jollifications over
German victories. I noticed that he stationed himself there only
when the German armies were winning ; if news came of a reverse,
Wangenheim was utterly invisible. This led me to remark that
he reminded me of a toy weather-prophet, which is always outside
the box when the weather is fine but which retires within when
storms are gathering. Wangenheim appreciated my little joke
as keenly as the rest of the diplomatic set.

In those early days, however, the weather for the German
Ambassador was distinctly favourable. The gocd fortune of the
German armies so excited him that he was sometimes led into
indiscretions, and his exuberance one day caused him to tell me
certain facts which, I think, will always have great historical
value. He disclosed precisely how and when Germany had
precipitated this war. To-day his revelation of this secret looks
like a most monstrous indiscretion, but we must remember
Wangenheim's state of mind at the time. The whole world then
believed that Paris was doomed, and Wangenheim reflected this
attitude in his frequent declarations that the war would be over
in two or three months. The whole German enterprise was
evidently progressing according to programme.

I have already mentioned that the German Ambassador left
for Berlin soon after the assassination of the Grand Duke, and he
now revealed the cause of his sudden disappearance. The Kaiser,
he told me, had summoned him to Berlin for an Imperial Con-
ference. This meeting took place at Potsdam on July 5th. The
Kaiser presided and nearly all the important Ambassadors
attended. Wangenheim himself was summoned to give assurance
about Turkey and enlighten his associates generally on the
situation in Constantinople, which was then regarded as almost
the pivotal point in the impending war. In telling me who
attended this conference Wangenheini used no names, though he
specifically said that among them were— the facts are so im-
portant that I quote his exact words in the German which he used
— " die Haiipte des Generalstabs und der Marine " (the heads of
the General Stafi and of the Navy), by which I have assumed that
he meant von Moltke and Von Tirpitz. The great bankers,
railroad directors, and the captains of German industry, all of
whom were as necessary to German war preparations as the army
itself, also attended.

Wangenheim now told me that the Kaiser solemnly put the
question to each man in turn : " Are you ready for war ? " All
replied " Yes," except^the financiers. Theysaid that they must
liave two weeks to sell their foreign securities and to make loans,

How the Kaiser Started the War 55

At that time few people had looked upon the Serajevo tragedy as
something that was likely to cause war. This Conference,
Wangenheim told me, took all precautions that no such suspicion
should be aroused. It decided to give the bankers time to
readjust their finances for the coming war, and then the several
members went quietly back to their work or started on vacations.
The Kaiser went to Norway on his yacht, von Bethmann-
Hollweg left for a rest, and Wangenheim returned to Con-
stantinople.

In teUing me about this Conference Wangenheim, of course,
admitted that Germany had precipitated the war. I think that
he was rather proud of the whole performance ; proud that
Germany had gone about the matter in so methodical and far-
seeing a way, and especially proud that he himself had been
invited to participate in so momentous a gathering. I have
often wondered why he revealed to me so important a secret,
and I think that perhaps the real reason was his excessive vanity
— his desire to show me how close he stood to the inner counsels
of his Emperor and the part that he had played in bringing on
this conflict. Whatever the motive, this indiscretion certainly
had the effect of showing me who were really the guilty parties in
this monstrous crime. The several Blue, Red, and Yellow Books
which flooded Europe during the few months following the
outbreak, and the hundreds of documents which were issued by
German propaganda attempting to establish Germany's inno-
cence, have never made the slightest impression on me. For my
conclusions as to the responsibility are not based on suspicions
or belief or the study of circumstantial data. I do not have to
reason or argue about the matter. J know. The conspiracy
that has caused this greatest of human "tragedies was hatched by
the Kaiser and his imperial crew at this Potsdam Conference of
July 5, 1914. One of the chief participants, flushed with his
triumph at the apparent success of the plot, told me the details
with his own mouth. Whenever I hear people arguing about the
responsibility for this war, or read the clumsy and lying excuses
put forth by Germany, I simply recall the burly figure of Wangen-
heim as he appeared that August afternoon, puffing away at a
huge black cigar, and giving me his account of this historic
meeting. Why waste any time discussing the matter after that ?
This Imperial Conference took place on July 5th and the Serbian
ultimatum was sent on July 22nd. That is just about the two
weeks' interval which the financiers had demanded to complete
their plans. All the great stock exchanges of the world show that
the German bankers profitably used this interval. Their records

50 Secrets of the Bosphorus

disclose that stocks were being sold in large quantities and that
prices declined rapidly. At that time the markets were some-
what puzzled at this movement, but Wangenheim's explanation
clears up any doubts that may still remain. Germany was
changing her securities into cash for war purposes. If anyone
wishes to verify Wangenheim I would suggest that he examine
the quotations of the New York stock market for these two
historic weeks. He will find that there were astonishing slumps
in quotations, especially on the stocks that had an international
market. Between July 5th and July 22nd Union Pacific dropped
from 155I to 127I, Baltimore and Ohio from 91 1 to 81, United
States Steel from 61 to 50 1, Canadian Pacific from 194 to 185I,
and Northern Pacific from iiif to 108. At that time the high
protectionists were blaming the Simmons-Underwood Tariff Act
as responsible for this fall in values, while other critics of the
Administration attributed it to the Federal Reserve Act, which
had not yet gone into effect. How Httle the Wall Street brokers
and the financial experts reahsed that an Imperial Conference
which had been held in Potsdam, and presided over by the
Kaiser, was the real force that was then depressing the market !

Wangenheim not only gave me the details of this Potsdam
Conference, but he disclosed the same secret to the Marquis
Garroni, the Italian Ambassador at Constantinople. Italy was
at that time technically Germany's ally.

The Austrian Ambassador, the Marquis Pallavicini, also
practically admitted that the Central Powers had precipitated the
war. On August i8th, Francis Joseph's birthday, I made the
usual ambassadorial visit of congratulation. Quite naturally the
conversation turned upon the Emperor, who had that day passed
his eighty-fourth year. Pallavicini spoke about him with the
utmost pride and veneration. He told me how keen-minded and
clear-headed the aged Emperor was, how he had the most
complete understanding of international affairs, and how he gave
every'thing his personal supervision. To illustrate the Austrian
Kaiser's grasp of pubhc events, Pallavicini instanced the present
war. The previous May, Pallavicini had had an audience with
Francis Joseph in Vienna. At that time, Pallavicini now told
me, the Emperor had said that a European war was unavoidable.
The Central Powers would not accept the Treaty of Bucharest as
a settlement of the Balkan question, and only a general war, the
Emperor had told Pallavicini, could ever settle that problem.
The Treaty of Bucharest, I may recall, was the settlement that
ended the second Balkan war.

This divided the European dominions of Turkey, excepting

How the Kaiser Started the War 57

Constantinople and a small piece of adjoining territory, among
the Balkan nations, chiefly Serbia and Greece. That treaty
strengthened Serbia greatly ; so much did it increase Serbia's
resources, indeed, that Austria feared that it had laid the be-
ginning of a new European State that might grow sufficiently
strong to resist her own plans of aggrandisement. Austria held
a large Serbian population under her yoke in Bosnia and Herze-
govina, and these Serbians desired, above ever^i:hing else,
annexation to their own country. Moreover, the Pan-German
plans in the East necessitated the destruction of Serbia, the State
which, so long as it stood intact, blocked the Germanic road to
the East. It had been the Austro-German expectation that the
Balkan war would destroy Serbia as a nation — that Turkey would
simply annihilate King Peter's forces. This was precisely what
the Germanic plans demanded, and for this reason Austria and
Germany did nothing to prevent the Balkan wars. But the result
was exactly the reverse, for out of the conflict arose a stronger
Serbia than ever, standing firm like a breakwater against the
Germanic path.

Most historians agree that the Treaty of Bucharest made
ine\dtable this war. I have the Marquis Pallavicini's evidence
that this was likewise the opinion of Francis Joseph himself.
The audience at which the Emperor made this statement was
held in May, more than a month before the assassination of the
Grand Duke. Clearly, therefore, we have the Austrian Em-
peror's assurances that the war would have come irrespective of
the assassination at Serajevo. It is quite apparent that this
crime merely served as the convenient pretext for the war upon
which the Central Empires had already decided.

CHAPTER VII

Germany's plans for new territories, coaling stations,

and indemnities

All through that eventful August and September Wangenheim
continued his almost irresponsible behaviour — now blandly
boastful, now depressed, always nervous and high-strung,
ingratiating to an American like myself, spiteful and petty
toward the representatives of the enemy Powers. He was always
displa5dng his anxiety and impatience by sitting on the bench,
that he might be within two or three minutes' quicker access to
the wireless communications that were sent him from Berlin via
the Corcovado. He would never miss an opportunity to spread
the news of victories ; several times he adopted the unusual
course of coming to my house unannounced, to teU me of the
latest developments and to read me extracts from messages which
he had just received. He was always apparently frank, direct,
and even indiscreet. I remember his great distress the day that
England declared war. Wangenheim had always professed a
great admiration for England, and especially for America.
" There are only three great countries," he would say over and
over again, " Germany, England, and the United States. We
three should get together, then we could rule the world." This
enthusiasm for the British Empire now suddenly cooled when
that Power decided to defend her treaty pledges and declared war.
Wangenheim had said that the conflict would be a short one ;
Sedan Day (September 2nd) would be celebrated in Paris. But
on August 5th I called at his Embassy and found him more than
usually agitated and serious. Baroness Wangenheim, a tall,
handsome woman, was sitting in the room reading her mother's
memoirs of the war of 1870. Both regarded the news from
England as almost a personal grievance, and what impressed me
most was Wangenheim 's utter failure to understand England's
motives. " It's mighty poor pohtics on her part ! " he exclaimed
over and over again. His attitude was precisely the same as
that of Bethmann-Hollweg with the " scrap of paper."

I was cut for a stroll on August 26th, and happened to meet
the German Ambassador. He began to talk as usual abcut the
German \actcries in France, repeating, as was now his habit, his i

Germany's Plans for New Territories 59

prophecy that the German armies would be in Paris within a
week. The deciding factor in this war, he added, would be the
Krupp artillery. " And remember that this time," he said. " we
are making war. And we shall make it rucksichtslos (without any
consideration). We shall not be hampered as we were in 1870.
Then Queen Victoria, the Czar, and Francis Joseph interfered
and persuaded us to spare Paris. But there is no one to interfere
now. We shall move to Berlin all the Parisian art treasures that
belong to the State, just as Napoleon took Italian art works to
France."

It is quite e\ddent that the battle of the Marne saved Paris
from the fate of Louvain.

So confidently did Wangenheim expect an immediate victory
that he began to discuss the terms of peace. Germany would
demand of France, he said, after defeating her armies, that she
completely demobilise and pay an indemnity. " France now,"
said Wangenheim, " can settle for $5,000,000,000 ; but
if she persists in continuing the war she will have to pay
$20,000,000,000."

He told me that Germany would demand harbours and
coaling-stations " everywhere." At that time, judging from
Wangenheim 's statements, Germany was not looking so much for
new territory as for great commercial advantages. She was
determined to be the great merchant nation, and for this she
must have free harbours, the Bagdad railroad, and extensive
rights in South America and Africa. Wangenheim said that
Germany did not desire any more territory in which the popula-
tions did not speak German, for they had had all of that kind of
trouble they wanted in Alsace-Lorraine, Poland, and other non-
German countries. This statement certainly sounds interesting
now in view of recent happenings in Russia. He did not mention
England in speaking of Germany's demand for coaUng-stations
and harbours ; he must have had England in mind, however, for
what other nation could have given them to Germany " every-
where " ?

All these conversations were illuminating to me as Wangen-
heim's revelation of the Conference of July 5th. That episode
clearly proved that Germany had consciously started the war,
while these grandiose schemes, as outlined by this very able but
somewhat talkative Ambassador, showed the reasons that had
impelled her in this great enterprise. Wangenheim gave me a
complete picture of the German Empire embarking en a great
buccaneering enterprise,, in which the spcils cf success came to
be the accumulated riches of her r.cighbcurs and the world

6o Secrets of the Bosphorus

position which their skill and industry had built up through the
centuries.

If England attempted to starve Germany, said Wangenheim,
Germany's response would be a simple one : she would starve
France. At that time, we must remember, Germany expected to
have Paris within a week, and she believed that this would
ultimately give her control of the whole country. It was
evidently the German plan, as understood by Wangenheim, to
hold this nation as a pawn for England's behaviour, a kind of
hostage on a gigantic scale, and, should England gain any
military or naval advantage, Germany would attempt to counter-
attack by torturing the whole French people. At that moment
German soldiers were murdering innocent Belgians in return for
the alleged misbehaviour of other Belgians, and evidently
Germany had planned to apply this principle to whole nations as
well as to individuals.

All through this and other talks, Wangenheim showed the
greatest animosity to Russia.

" We've got our foot on Russia's corn," he said, " and we
propose to keep it there."

By this he must have meant that Germany had sent the
Goeben and the Breslau through the Dardanelles and so controlled
the situation in Constantinople. The old B^^zantine capital, said
Wangenheim, was the prize which a victorious Russia would
demand, and her lack of an all-the-year-round port in warm
waters was Russia's tender spot — her " corn." At this time
Wangenheim boasted that Germany had 174 German gunners at
the Dardanelles, that the Strait could be closed in less than thirty
minutes, and that Souchon, the German admiral, had informed
him that the Straits were impregnable. " We shall not close the
Dardanelles, however," he said, " unless England attacks them."

At that time England, although she had declared war on
Germany, had played no conspicuous part in the miUtary
operations ; her " contemptible httle army " was making its
heroic retreat from Mons. Wangenheim entirely discounted
England as an enemy. It was the German intention, he said, to
place their big guns at Calais, and throw their shells across the
English Channel to the English coast towns ; that Germany would
not have Calais within the next ten days did not occur to him as
a possibility. In this and other conversations at about the same
time Wangenheim laughed at the idea that England could create
a large independent army. " The idea is preposterous," he said.
" It takes generations of militarism to produce anything Uke the
German army. We have been building it up for two hundred

Germany's Plans for New Territories 6i

years. It takes thirty years of constant training to produce such
generals as we have. Our army will always maintain its organ-
isation. We have 500,000 recruits reaching miUtary age every
year, and we cannot possibly lose that number, so that our army
will be kept intact."

A few weeks later civilisation was outraged by the German
bombardment of EngUsh coast towns, such as Scarborough and
Hartlepool. This was no sudden German inspiration, but part
of their carefully-considered plans. Wangenheim told me, on
September 6th, 1914, that Germany intended to bombard all
English harbours, so as to stop the food supply. It is also
apparent that German ruthlessncss against American sea trade
was no sudden decision of von Tirpitz, for on this same date
the German Ambassador to Constantinople warned me that it
would be very dangerous for the United States to send ships to
England !

CHAPTER VIII

A CLASSIC INSTANCE OF GERMAN PROPAGANDA

In those August and September days Germany had no intention
of precipitating Turkey immediately into the war. As I had a
deep interest in the welfare of the Turkish people and in maintain-
ing peace, I telegraphed Washington asking if I might use my
influence to keep Turkey neutral. I received a reply that I
might do this provided that I made my representations un-
officially and purely upon humanitarian grounds. As the
English and the French Ambassadors were exerting all their
effort to keep Turkey neutral, I knew that my intervention in
the same interest would not displease the British Government.
Germany, however, might regard any interference on my part as
an unneutral act, and I asked Wangenheim if there could be any
objection from that source.

His reply somewhat surprised me, though I saw through it
soon afterward. " Not at all," he said. " Germany desires, above
all, that Turkey shall remain neutral."

Undoubtedly Turkey's poHcy at that moment precisely fitted
in with German plans. Wangenheim was every day increasing
his ascendancy over the Turkish Cabinet, and Turkey was then
pursuing the course that best served the German aims. Her
policy was keeping the Entente on tenterhooks ; it never knew
from day to day where Turkey stood, whether she would remain
neutral or enter the war on Germany's side. Because Turkey's
attitude was so uncertain Russia was compelled to keep large
forces on the Caucasus, England was obliged to strengthen her
forces in Egypt and India, and to maintain a considerable fleet
at the mouth of the Dardanelles. All this worked in beautifully
with Germany's plans, for these detached forces just so much
weakened England and Russia on the European battle-front. I
am now speaking of the period just before the Marne, when
Germany expected to defeat France and Russia with the aid of
her aUy, Austria, and thus obtain a victory that would have
enabled her to dictate the future of Europe. Should Turkey at
that time be actually engaged in military operations, she could do
no more toward bringing about this victory than she was doing

A Classic Instance of German Propaganda 63

now, by keeping considerable Russian and English forces away
from the most important fronts. But, should Germany win this
easy victory with Turkey's aid, she might find her new ally an
embarrassment. Turkey w^ould certainly demand compensation,
and she would not be particularly modest in her demands, which
most hkely would include the return of Egypt and perhaps the
recession of Balkan territories. Such readjustments would have
interfered with the Kaijer's plans. Thus he had no interest in
having Turkey as an active ally, except in the event that he did
not win his speedilj' anticipated triumph. But, if Russia should
make great progress against Austria, then Turkey's active
aUiance would have great military value, especially if her entry
should be so timed as to bring in Bulgaria and Rumania. Mean-
while Wangenheim was placing a waiting game, making Turkey a
potential German ally, strengthening her army and her navy, and
preparing to use her, whenever the moment arrived for using her,
to the best advantage. If Germany could not win the war
without Turkey's aid, Germany was prepared to take her in as
an ally ; if she could win without Turkey, then she would not
have to pay the Turk for his co-operation. Meanwhile the
sensible course was to keep her prepared in case the Turldsh
forces became essential to German success.

The duel that now took place between Germiany and the
Entente for Turkey's favour was a most unequal one. The fact
was that Germany had won the victory when she smuggled the
Goeben and the Breslau into the Sea of Marmora. The English,
French, and Russian Ambassadors well understood this, and they
knew that they could not make Turkey an active ally of the
Entente ; they probably had no desire to do so, but they did have
hopes that they could keep her neutral. To this end they now
directed all their efforts. " You have had enough of war," they
would tell Talaat and Enver. " You have fought three wars in
the last four years ; you will ruin your country absolutely if you
get involved in this one." The Entente had only one con-
sideration to offer Turkey for her neutrality, and this was an offer
to guarantee the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The Entente
Ambassadors showed their great desire to keep Turkey out of the
war by their disinchnation to press to the hmit their case against
the Breslau and the Goeben. It is true that they repeatedly
protested against the continued presence of these ships, but every
time the Turkish officials maintained that they were Turkish
vessels.

" If that is so," Sir Louis Mallet would urge, and his argument
was unassailable, " why don't you remove the German officers

64 Secrets of the Bosphorus

and crew ? " That was the intention, the Grand Vizier would
answer. The Turkish crews that had been sent to man the ships
which had been built in England, he would say, were returning to
Turkey, and they would be put on board the Goeben and the
Breslau as soon as they reached Constantinople. But days and
weeks went by ; these crews came home, and still Germany
manned and officered the cruisers. These backings and fillings
naturally did not deceive the British and French Foreign Offices.
The presence of the Goeben and the Breslau was a standing casus
belli, but the Entente Ambassadors did not demand their pass-
ports, for such an act would have precipitated the very crisis
which they were seeking to delay, and, if possible, to avoid —
Turkey's entrance as Germany's ally. Unhappily, the En-
tente's promise to guarantee Turkey's integrity did not win
Turkey to their side.

" They promised that we should not be dismembered after the
Balkan wars," Talaat would tell me, " and see what happened to
European Turkey then."

Wangenheim constantly harped upon this fact. " You can't
trust anj^hing they say," he would tell Talaat and Enver ;
" didn't they all go back on you a year ago ? " And then with
great cleverness he would play upon the only emotion which
really actuates the Turk. The descendants of Osman hardly
resemble any people I have ever known. They do not hate, they
do not love ; they have no lasting animosities or affections. They
only fear. And naturally they attribute to others the motives
which regulate their own conduct. " How stupid you are ! "
Wangenheim would tell Talaat and Enver, discussing the Enghsh
attitude. "Don't you see why the English want you to keep
out ? It is because they fear you. Don't you see that, with the
help of Germany, you have again become a great military
power ? No wonder England doesn't want to fight you ! " He
dinned this so continually in their ears that they finally believed
it, for this argument not only completely explained the attitude
of the Entente, but it flattered Turkish pride.

Whatever may have been the attitude of Enver and Talaat,
I think that England and France were more popular with all
classes in Turkey than was Germany. The Sultan was opposed
to war ; the heir-apparent, Youssouff Izzadin, was openly pro-
Ally ; the Grand Vizier, Said HaHm, favoured England rather
than Germany ; Djemai, the third member of the ruUng trium-
virate, had the reputation of being a Francophile — he had;
recently returned from Paris, where the reception he had received
had greatly flattered him ; a majority of the Cabinet had no

A Classic Instance of German Propaganda 65

enthusiasm for Germany ; and public opinion, sp far as public
opinion existed in Turkey, regarded England, not Germany, as
Turkey's historic friend. Wangenheim, therefore, had much
opposition to overcome, and the methods which he took to break
it down form a classic illustration of German propaganda. He
started a lavish pubhcity campaign against England, France, and
Russia. I have described the feeUngs of the Turks at losing their
ships in England. Wangenheim 's agents now filled columns of
purchased space in the newspapers with bitter attacks on England
for taking over these vessels. The whole Turkish Press rapidly
passed under the control of Germany. Wangenheim purchased
the Ikdam, one of the largest Turkish newspapers, which im-
mediately began to sing the praises of Germany and to abuse the
Entente. The Osmanischer Lloyd, published in French and
German, became an organ of the German Embassy. Although
the Turkish Constitution guaranteed a free Press, a censorship
was estabhshed in the interest of the Central Powers. All
Turkish editors were ordered to write in Germany's favour, and
the}" obeyed instructions. The Jeune Turc, a pro-Entente
newspaper, printed in French, was suppressed. The Turkish
papers exaggerated German ^dctories and completely manu-
factured others ; they were constantly printing the news of
Entente defeats, most of them wholly imaginary. In the evening
Wangenheim and Pallavicini would show me official telegrams
giving the details of military operations, but when, in the morn-
ing, I would look in the newspapers, I would find that this news
had been twisted or falsified in Germany's favour. A certain
Baron Oppenheim travelled all over Turkey manufacturing
pubUc opinion against England and France. Ostensibly he was
an archaeologist, while in reality he opened offices everywhere
from which issued streams of slanders against the Entente. Huge
maps were pasted on walls, showing all the territory which
Turkey had lost in the course of a century. Russia was portrayed
£LS the nation chiefly responsible for these " robberies." and
attention was drawn to the fact that England had now become
Russia's ally. Pictures were published, showing the grasping
powers of the Entente as rapacious animals, snatching away at
poor Turkey. Enver was advertised as the " hero " who had
recovered Adnanople ; Germany was pictured as Turkey's
friend ; the Kaiser suddenly became " Hadji Wilhelm," the great
protector of Islam, and stories were even printed that he had
become a convert to Mohammedanism. The Turkish populace
was informed that the Moslems of India and of Egypt were about
to revolt and throw off their. English " tyrants." The Turkish

F

66 Secrets of the Bosphorus

man-on-the-street was taught to say Gott Strafe England, and all
the time the motive-power of this infamous campaign was
German money.

But Germany was doing more than poisoning the Turkish
mind ; she was appropriating Turkey's mihtary resources. I
have already described how, in January, 1914, the Kaiser had
taken over the Turkish Army and rehabihtated it in preparation
for the European war. He now proceeded to do the same thing
with the Turkish Navy. In August Wangenheim boasted to me
that, " We now control both the Turkish Army and Navy." At
the time the Goeben and Breslau arrived, an Enghsh mission,
headed by Admiral Limpus, was hard at work restoring the
Turkish Navy. Soon afterward Limpus and his associates were
unceremoniously dismissed. The manner of their going was really
disgraceful, for not even the most ordinary courtesies were shown
them. The Enghsh naval officers quietly and unobservedly left
Constantinople for England — all except the Admiral himself, who
had to remain longer because of his daughter's illness.

Night after night whole carloads of Germans landed at
Constantinople from Berhn ; the aggregations to the population
finally amounted to 3,800 men, most of them sent to man the
Turkish Navy and to manufacture ammunition. They filled the
cafes every night, and they paraded the streets of Constantinople
in the small hours of the morning, howhng and singing German
patriotic songs. Many of them were slalled mechanics, who
immediately went to work repairing the destroyers and other
ships and putting them in shape for war. The British firm of
Armstrong and Vickers had a splendid dock in Coristantinople, and
this the Germans now appropriated. All day and night we could
hear this work going on, and we could hardly sleep because of the
hubbub of riveting and hammering. Wangenheim now found
another opportunity for instilhng more poison into the minds of
Enver, Talaat, and Djemal. The German workers, he declared,
had found that the Turkish ships were in a desperate state of
disrepair, and for this he naturally blamed the Enghsh naval
mission. He said that England had dehberately let the Turkish
Navy go to decay, and he asserted that this was all part of
England's plot to ruin Turkey ! " Look ! " he would exclaim,
" see what we Germans have done for the Turkish Army, and see
what the Enghsh have done for your ships ! " As a matter of
fact, all this was untrue, for Admiral Limpus had worked hard
and conscientiously to improve the Navy, and had accomphshed
excellent results in that direction.

All this time the Germans were working at the Dardanelles,

A Classic Instance of German Propaganda 67

seeking to strengthen the fortifications, and preparing for a
possible Allied attack. As September lengthened into October,
the Sublime Porte practically ceased to be the headquarters of
the Ottoman Empire. I really think that the most powerful seat
of authority at that time was a German merchant-ship, the
General. It was moored in the Golden Horn, near the Galata
Bridge, and a permanent stairway had been built, leading to its
deck. I knew well one of the most frequent visitors to this ship,
an American who used to come to the Embassy and entertain me
with stories of what was going on.

The General, this friend now informed me, was practically a
German club or hotel. The officers of the Goeben and the
Breslau and other German officers who had been sent to command
the Turkish ships ate and slept on board. Admiral Souchon, who
had brought the German cruisers to Constantinople, presided over
these gatherings. Souchon was a man of French Huguenot
extraction ; he was a short, dapper, clean-cut sailor, very
energetic and alert, and to the German passion for command and
thoroughness he added much of the GaUic geniality and buoy-
ancy. Naturally he gave much hveliness to the evening parties
on the General, and the beer and champagne which were liberally
dispensed on these occasions loosened the tongues of his fellow-
officers. Their conversation showed that they entertained no
illusions as to who really controlled the Turkish Navy. Night
after night their impatience for action grew ; they kept declaring
that, if Turkey did not presently attack the Russians, they would
force her to do so. They would relate how they had sent German
ships into the Black Sea in the hope of provoking the Russian
fleet to some action that would make war inevitable. Toward
the end of October my friend told me that hostilities could not
much longer be avoided ; the Turkish fleet had been fitted for
action, everything was ready, and the impetuosity of these
kriegslusiige German officers could not much longer be restrained.

" They are just Uke a lot of boys with chips on their shoulders.
They are simply spoihng for a fight ! " he said.

CHAPTER IX

■GERMA'NY CLOSES THE DARDANELLES AND SO SEPARATES RUSSIA

FROM HER ALLIES

On September 27th Sir Louis Mallet, the British Ambassador,
entered my office in a considerably disturbed state of mind. The
Khedive of Egypt had just left me, and I began to talk to Sir
Louis about Egyptian matters.

" Let's discuss that some other time," he said. " I have
Something far more important to tell you. They have closed the
Dardanelles."

By " they " he meant, of course, not the Turkish Government,
the only Power which hadthe legal right to take this drastic step,
but the actual ruUng powers in Turkey, the Germans. Sir Louis
had good reason for bringing me this piece of news, since this was
an outrage against the United States as well as against the Allies.
He asked me to go with him and make a joint protest. I sug-
gested, however, that it would be better for us to act separately,
and I immediately started for the House of the Grand Vizier.

When I arrived a Cabinet conference was in session, and, as
I sat in the ante-room, I could hear several voices in excited
discussion. Among them -all I. could distinctly distinguish the
familiar tones of Taiaat, Enver, Djavid, and other members of
the Government. It was quite plain, from all that I could over-
hear through the thin partitions, that these nominal rulers, of
Turkey were almost as worked up over the closing as were Sir
Louis Mallet and myself.

The Grand Vizier came out in answer to my request. He
presented a pitiable sight. This was, in title at least, the most
important official of the Turkish Government, the mouthpiece of
the Sultan himself, yet now he presented a picture of abject
helplessness and fear. His face was blanched and he was
trembling from head to foot. He was so overcome with his
emotions that he could hardly speak. When I asked him whether
the news was true that the Dardanelles had been closed he finally i
• stammered out that it was.

" You know this means war," I said, and I protested as
strongly as I could in the name of the United States.

All the time that we were talking I could hear the loud tones

Germany Closes the Dardanelles 69

of Talaat and his associates in the interior apartment. The
Grand Vizier excused himself and went back into the room. He
then sent out Djavid, the Minister of Finance, to discuss the matter
with me.

" It's all a surprise to us," were Djavid's first words — this
statement being a complete admission that the Cabinet had had
nothing to do with it. I repeated that the United States would
not submit to closing the Dardanelles ; since Turkey was at
peace she had no legal right to shut the Straits to merchant ships,
except in case of war. I said that an American ship laden with
supplies and stores for the American Embassy was outside at
that moment waiting to come in. Djavid suggested that I have
this vessel unload her cargo at Smyrna ; that the Turkish
Government, he obligingly added, would pay the cost of trans-
porting it overland to Constantinople. This proposal, of course,
was a ridiculous evasion of the issue, and I brushed it aside.

Djavid then said that the Cabinet proposed to investigate the
matter, and, ih fact, they were discussing it at that moment. He
told me how it had happened. A Turkish torpedo-boat had
passed through the Dardanelles and attempted to enter the
JEgesLU. The British warships stationed outside hailed the ship,
examined it, and found that there were German sailors on board.
The English admiral at once ordered the vessel to go back ; this,
under the circumstances, he had a right to do. Weber Pasha, the
German general who was then in charge of the fortifications, did
not consult the Turks, but he immediately gave orders to close
the Straits. Wangenheim had already boasted to me, as I have
said, that the Dardanelles could be closed in thirty minutes, and
the Germans now made good his words. Down went the mines
and the nets ; the lights in the lighthouses were extinguished ;
signals were put up notifying all ships that there was " no
thor6ughfare," and the deed,. the most high-handed which the
Germans had yet committed, was done. And here I found these
Turkish statesmen, who alone had authority over this indispens-
able strip of water, trembling and stammering with fear, running
hither and yon like a lot of frightened rabbits, appalled at the
enormity of the German act, yet apparently powerless to take
any decisive action. I certainly had. a graphic picture of the
extremities to which Teutonic bullying had reduced the present .
rulers of the Turkish Empire. And at the same moment before .
my mind rose the figure of the Sultan, whose signature was
essential to close legally these waters, quietly dozing at his palace,
entirety oblivious of the whole transaction.

Though Djavid informed me tha,t the Cabinet might decide

70 Secrets of the Bosphorus

to reopen the Dardanelles, it never did so. This great passage-
way has remained closed from September 27, 1914, to the present
time. I saw, of course, precisely what this action signified.
That month of September had been a disillusioning one for the
Germans. The French had beaten back the invasion and had
driven the German armies to entrenchments along the Aisne.
The Russians were sweeping triumphantly through Galicia ;
already ' they had captured Lemburg, and it seemed not im-
probable that they would soon cross the Carpathians to Austria-
Hungary. In those days Pallavicini, the Austrian Ambassador,
was a discouraged, lamentable figure. He confided to me his
fears for the future, telling me that the German programme of a
short, .decisive war had clearly failed and that it was now quite
evident that Germany could only win, if she could win at all.
which was exceedingly doubtful, after a protracted struggle. I
have described how Wangenheim, while preparing the Turkish
Army and Navy for any eventualities, was simply holding Turkey
in his hand, intending actively to use her forces only in case
Germany failed to crush France and Russia in the first campaign.
Now that that failure was manifest, Wangenheim was instructed
to use the Turkish Empire as an active ally. Hitherto, this
nation of 20,000,000 had been a passive partner, being held back
by Wangenheim until Germany decided that it would be necessary
to pay the price of letting her into the war as a real participant.
The time had come when Germany needed her men, and the
outward sign that the situation had changed was the closing of
the Dardanelles. Thus Wangenheim had accomiplished the task
for which he had been working, and in this act had fittingly
crowned his achievement of TDringing in the Goeben and the
Breslau. Few Americans realise, even to-day, what an over-^
whelming influence this act had upon future military operations.
Yet the fact that the war has lasted for so many years,, and that
the burden has been ultimately thrown on America, is explained
by this closing of the Dardanelles.

For this is the element in the situation that separated Russia
frbm her allies, that, in less than a year, led to her defeat and
collapse, which in turn was the reason why the Russian revolution
became possible. The map discloses that this enormous land of
Russia has just four ways of reaching the seas. One is by way of
the Baltic, and this the German fleet had already closed. Another
is Archangel, on the Arctic Ocean, a port that is frozen over
several months in the year, and which connects with the heart
of Russia only by a long, single-track railroad. Another is the
Pacific port of Vladivostok, also ice-bound for three months, and

Germany Closes the Dardanelles 71

reaching Russia nnlv by the thin line of the Siberian Railway,
5,000 miles long. The fourth passage was that of the Dar-
danelles ; in fact, this was the only practicable one. This was
the narrow gate through which the surplus products of 175,000 ,000
people reached Europe, and nine-tenths of all Russian exports
and imports had gone this wav for years. By suddenly closing
it, Germany destroyed Russia both as an economic and a military
Power. By shutting off* the exports of Russian grain she
deprived Russia of the financial power essential to successful
warfare. What was perhaps even more fatal, she prevented
England and France from getting m.unitions to the Russian
battlefront in sufficient quantity to stem the German onslaught.
As soon as the Dardanelles was closed, Russia had to fall back on
Archangel and Vladivostok for such suppHes as she could get
from these ports. The cause of the military collapse of Russia
in 191 5 is now well known ; the soldiers simply had no ammuni-
tion with which to fight. The larger part of 1918 Germany
spent in a desperate attempt to drive a "wedge " between the
French and English armies on the Western front, to separate one
ally from another, and so obtain a position where she could attack
each one separately. The attempt has proved to be a very
difficult one. Yet the task of undoing the Franco-Russian treaty,
and driving such a " wedge " between Russia and her Western
associates, proved to have been an easy one. It was simply a
matter, as I have described, of controlling a corrupt and degen-
erate Government, getting possession, while she was still at peace,
of her main executions, her army, her navy, her resources, and
then, at the proper moment, ignoring the nominal rulers and
closing a little strip, of water about twenty miles long and two or
three wide ! It did not cost a single human life" or the firing of a
single gun, yet, in a twinkling, Germany accornplished this, what
probably three milhon men, opposed to a well-equipped Russian
force, could not have brought to pass. It was one of the most
dramatic military triumphs of the war, and it was all the
work of German propaganda, German penetration, and German
diplomacy.

In the days following this bottling up of Russia the Bos-
phonis began to look like a harbour which has been suddenly
stricken with the plague. Hundreds of ships arrived from
Russia, Rumania, and Bulgaria, loaded with grain, lumber, and
other products, only to discover that they could g6 no farther.
There were not docks enough to berth them, and they had to
swing out into the stream, drop anchor, and await developments.
The waters were a cluster of masts and smoke-stacks, and the

72 Secrets of the Bosphorus

crowded vessels became so dense that a motor-boat had difficulty
in picking its way through, the tangled forest. The Turks held
out hopes that they might reopen, the waterway, and for this
. reason these vessels, constantly increasing in number, waited
patiently for a month or so. Then one by one they turned
around, pointed their noses toward the Black Sea, and lugubri-
ously started for their home ports. In a few weeks the Bos-
phorus and adjoining wkters had become a desolate waste. What
for years had been one of the most animated shipping points in
the world was ruffled only by an occasional launch or a tiny
Turkish caique, or now and then a little sailing vessel. And for
an accurate idea of what this meant, from a military standpoint,
we need only call to mind the Russian battlefront in the next
year. There the peasants were fighting German artillery jvith
their unprotected bodies, having no rifles and no heavy guns,
while mountains of useless ammunition were piling up in their
distant Arctic and Pacific ports, with no railroads to send them
to the field of action.

CHAPTER X

turkey's abrogation of the capitulations — ENVER

LIVING IN A PALACE, WITH PLENTY OF MONEY

AND AN IMPERIAL BRIDE

Another question, which had been under discu'ssion for several
months, now became involved in the Turkish" international
situation. That was the matter of the capitulations. These
were the treaty rights which for centuries had regulated the
position of foreigners in the Turkish Empire. Turkey had never
been admitted to a complete equality with European nations, and
in realit}' she had never been an independent sovereignty. The
Sultan's laws and customs differed so radically from these of
Europe and America that no non-Moslem country could think of
submitting its citizens in Turkey to them. In many matters,
therefore, the principle of ex-territoriahty had alw^ays prevailed
in favour of all citizens or subjects of countries enjoying capitu-
latory rights. Almost all European countries, as well as the
United States, for centuries had had their own consular courts
and prisons for trying and punishing crimes which their nationals
committed in Turkey. We all had our schools subject, not to
Turkish law and protection, but to that of the country which
maintained them. Thus Robert College and the Constantinople
College for Women, those wonderful institutions which American
philanthropy has erected on the Bosphorus, as well as hundreds
of American rehgicus, charitable, and educational institutions,
practically stood on American territory and looked upon the
American Embassy as their guardian. Several nations had their
own post -offices, as they did not care to submit their mail to the
Ottoman postal service. Turkey, hkewise, did not have unhmited
power of taxation over foreigners. It could not even increase
their customs taxes without the consent of the foreign Powers.
In 1914 it could collect only 11 per cent, in tariff dues, and was
attempting to secure the right to increase the amount to 14.
We have always regarded England as the only free-trade country,
overlocldng this fact, yet this hmitaticn in Turkey's customs dues
had practically made the Ottcma-n Empire an ur.wilUng follower
of Cobden. Turkey was thus prohibited by the Powers from

74 Secrets of the Bosphorus

developing any industries, of her own ; instead, she was forced to
take large quantities of inferior articles from Europe. Against
these restrictions Turkish statesmen had protested for years,
declaring that they constituted an insult to their pride as a nation
and also interfered with their progress. However, the agreement
was a bi-lateral one, and Turkey could not change it without the
consent of all the contracting Powers. Yet certainly the present
moment, when both the Entente and the Central Powers were
cultivating Turkey, served to furnish a valuable opportunity to
make the change. And so, as soon as the Germans had started
on their march toward Paris, the air was filled with reports that
Turkey intended to abrogate the capitulations. Rumour said
that Germany had consented as part of the bargain for Turkish
co-operation, and that England had agreed to the abrogation as
part of her payment for Turkish neutraUty. Neither of these
I'eports was true. What was manifest, however, was the panic
which the mere suggestion of abrogation produced on the foreign
population. The idea of becoming subject to the Turkish laws,
and perhaps being thrown into Turkish prisons, made their flesh
creep — and with good reason.

.About this time I had a long conference with Enver. He
asked me to call at his residence, as he was laid up with an infected
toe, the result of a surgical operation. I thus had an illuminating
glimpse of the Minister of War enfamille. Certainly this humble
man of the people had risen in the world. His house, which was
in one of the quietest and most aristocratic parts of the city, was.
a splendid old building, very large and very elaborate. I Was
ushered through a series of four or five halls, and as I went by one
door, the Imperial Princess, Enver's wife, slightly opened it and
peeped through at me. Farther on another Turkish lady
opened her. door and also obtained a fleeting glimpse of the
ambassadorial figure. I was finally escorted into a beautiful
room in which Enver lay reclining on a semi-sofa. He had on a
long silk dressing-gown and his stockinged feet hung languidly
over the edge of the divan. He looked much younger than in his
uniform ; he was an extremely neat and well-groomed object,
with a pale, smooth face, made even more striking by his black
hair, and with delicate white hands and long tapering fingers.
He might easily have passed for under thirty, and, in fact, he was
not much over that age. He had at hand a \dolin, and a piano
near by also testified to his musical taste. The room was
splendidly tapestried. Perhaps its most conspicuous feature was
a dais upon which stood a golden chair ; this was the marriage-
throne of Enver's imperial wife. As I glanced around at all tfiis

Turkey's Abrogation of the Capitulations 75

luxury I must admit that a few uncharitable thoughts came to
mind, and that I could not help pondering a question which was
then being generally asked in Constantinople. Where did Enver
get the money for this expensive establishment ? He had no
fortune of his own — his parents had been wretchedly poor — and
his salary as a Cabinet Minister was only about $8,000. . His
wife had a moderate allowance as an Imperial Princess, but she
had no private resources. Enver has never engaged in business,
having been a revolutionist, military leader, and politician all his
life. But here he was, living at a rate that demanded a very large
income. In other ways Enver was giving evidences of great and
sudden prosperity, and already I had heard much of his invest-
ments in real estate, which were the talk of the town.

Enver wished to discuss the capitulations. He practically
said that the Cabinet had decided on the abrogation and he wished
to know the attitude of the United States. He added that cer-
tainly a country which had fought for its independence as we had
would sympathise with Turkey's attempt to shake off these
shackles. We had helped Japan free herself from similar burdens,
and wouldn't we now help Turkey ? Certainly Turkey was as
civilised a nation as Japan ?

I answered that I thought that the United States .might
consent to abandon the capitulations in so far as they were
economic. It was my opinion that Turkey should control her
customs duties and be permitted to levy the same taxes on
foreigners as on her own citizens. So long as the Turkish courts
and Turkish prisons maintained their present standards, how-
ever, we could never agree to give up the judicial capitulations.
Turkey should reform these judicial abuses ; then, after they had
established European ideas in the administration of justice, the
matter could be discussed. Enver replied that Turkey would be
willing to have mixed tribunals and to have the United States
designate some of the judges, but I suggested that, inasmuch as
American judges did not know the Turkish language or Turkish
law, his scheme involved great practical difficulties. I also told
him that the American schools and colleges were very dear to
Americans, and that we would never consent to subjecting them
to Turkish jurisdiction.

Despite aur protests, the Cabinet issued its notification to all
the Powers that the capitulations would be abrogated on
October ist. This abrogation was all a part of the':Young Turks'
plan to free themselves of foreign tutelage and to re-establish a
new country on the basis. " Turkey for theJTurkg." It repre-
sented, as i shall show, what was the central pomt of Turkish

76 Secrets of the Bosphorus

policy, not only in the Empire's relations to foreign Powers, but
to her peoples. England's position on this question was about
the same as our own ; the British Government would consent to
the modification of the economic restrictions, but not the others.
Wangenheim was greatly disturbed, and I think that his Foreign
Office reprimanded him for letting the abrogation take place,
because he blandly asked me to announce that I was the respon-
sible person ! As October ist approached, the foreigners in
Turkey were in a high state of apprehension. The Dardanelles
had been closed, shutting them off from Europe, and now they
felt that they were to be left at the mercy of Turkish courts and
Turkish prisons. Inasmuch as it was the habit in Turkish
prisons to herd the innocent and the guilty, and to place in the
same room with murderers people who had been, charged, but
pot convicted, of minor offences, and to bastinado recalcitrant
witnesses, the fears of the foreign residents may well be imagined.
The educational institutions were also apprehensive, and in their
interest I appealed to Enver. He assured me that the Turks had
no hostile intention toward Americans. I Jeplied that he should
show in unmistakable fashion that Americans would not be'
harmed.

"All right," he answered. "What would you suggest?"
" Why not ostentatiously visit Robert College on October ist,
the day the capitulations are abrogated ? " I said.

The idea was rather a unique one, for in all the history of this
institution an important Turkish official had never entered its
doors. But I knew enough of the Turkish character to under-
stand that an open, ceremonious visit by Enver would cause a
public sensation. News of it would reach the farthest limits of
the Turkish Empire, and it was certain that the Turks would
interpret it as meaning that one of the two most powerful mien in
Turkey had taken this and other American institutions under his
patronage. Such a visit would exercise a more protecting
influence over American colleges and schools in Turkey than an
army corps. I was therefore greatly pleased when Enver
promptly adopted my suggestion.

On the day that the capitulations were abrogated Enver
appeared at the American Embassy with two autos, one for
himself and me, and the other for his adjutants, all of whom were
dressed in full uniform. I purposely made the proceeding as
spectacular as possible, as naturally I wished it to have the
widest publicity. On the ride up to the college I told Enver all
about these American institutions and what'^they were doing for
Turkey. He really knew very little about them, and, like most

. Turkey's Abrogation of the Capitulations 77

Turks, he half suspected that they concealed a political purpose.

" We Americans are not looking for material advantages in
Turkey," I said. "We merely demand that you treat kindly
our children, these colleges, for which all the people in the United
States have the warmest affection."

I told him that Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge, president of the
trustees of Robert College, and Mr. Charles R. Crane, president
of the trustees of the Women's College, were intimate iriends of
President Wilson. "These," I added, "represent what is best
in America and the fine altruistic spirit which in our country
accumulates wealth and then uses it to found colleges and schools.
In estabhshing these institutions in Turkey they are trying, not
to convert your people to Christianity, but to help train them in
the sciences and arts and so prepare to make them better citizens.
Americans feel that the Bible lands have given them their
religion, and they wish to repay with the best thing America has
— its education." I then told iiim about Mrs. Russell Sage and
Miss Helen Gould, who had made large gifts to the Women's
College.

" But where do these people get ail the money for such
benefactions ? " Enver asked.

I then entertained him for an hour or so with a few pages
from our own " American rights." I told liim how Jay Gould
had arrived in New York, a penniless and ragged bo}', with a
mousetrap wiiich he had invented, and how he had died, almost
thirty years afterward, leaving a fortune of about $1,000,000,000.
I told liim how Commodore Vanderbilt had started hfe as a
ferryman and had become America's greatest railroad " mag-
nate " ; how Rockefeller had begun life sitting on a high stool in
a Cleveland commission nouse, earning six dollars a week, and
had created the greatest fortune that had ever been accumulated
by a single man in the world's history. I told liim how the
Dodges had become our great "copper kings," the Cranes our
great manufacturers of iron pipe. Enver found these stories
more thrilling than any that had ever come out of Bagdad, and
I found afterward that he had retold them to almost all the
important people in Constantinople.

Enver was immensely impressed also by what I said about
the American institutions, especially at my statement that they
also had not converted — or attempted to convert — a single
Mohammedan to Christianity. He went through all the buildings
and expressed his enthusiasm at everything he saw, and he even
suggested that he would like to send his brother there. He took-
tea with Mrs. Gates, wile of President Gates, discussed most

78 Secrets of the Bosphorus

intelligently the courses, and asked us if we could not introduce .
the study of agriculture. The teachers he met seemed to be a
great revelation.,

" I expected to find these missionaries as they are pictured in
the Berhn newspapers," he said, " with long hair and hanging
jaws, and hands clasped constantly in a prayerful attitude. But
here is Dr. Gates talking Turkish hke a native and acting like a
man of the world. I am more than pleased, and thank you for
bringing me."

We all saw Enver that afternoon in his most delightful
aspect. My idea that this visit in itself would protect the
colleges from disturbance proved to have been a happy one. The
Turkish Empire has been a tumultuous place in the last four
years, but -the American colleges have had no difficulties, either
with the Turkish Government or with the Turkish populace.

This visit was only an agreeable interlude in events of the most
exciting character. Enver, amiable as he could be on occasion,
had dehberately determined to put Turkey in, the war on Ger-
many's side. Germany had now reached the point where she no
longer concealed her intentions. Once before, when I had-
interfered in the interest of peace, Wangenheim had encouraged
my action. The reason, as I have indicated, was that, at that
time, Germany wished Turkey to keep out of the war, for the
German General Staff expected to win without her help. But
now Wangenheim wanted Turkey in. As I was not working in
Germany's interest, but merely attempting to help the peace
idea, I still kept urging Enver and Talaat to keep out. This
made Wangenheim angry. " I thought that you were a
neutral ? " he now exclaimed.

" I thought that you were — in Turkey," I answered.

Toward the end of October Wangenheim was leaving nothing
undone to start hostilities ; all he needed now was a favourable
occasion.

Even after Germany had closed the Dardanelles the German
Ambassador's task was not an easy one. Talaat was not yet
entirely convinced that his best poHcy was war, and, as I have
already said, there was still plenty of pro-Ally sympathy in
ofiicial quarters. It was Talaat 's plan not to seize all the Cabinet
offices at onee, but gradually to elbow his way into undisputed-
control. At this crisis the most popularly respected members of
the Ministry were Djavid, Minister of Finance, a man who was
Jewish by race, but Mohammedan by reHgion ; Mahmoud Pasha,
Minister of PubHc Works, a Circassian ; Bustany Effendi, Minister
of Commerce and Agriculture, a Christian Arab ; and Oskan

Turkey's Abrogation of the Capitulations 79

Effendi, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, an Armenian — and a
Christian, of course. All these leaders, as well as the Grand
Vizier, openly opposed war, and all now informed Talaat and
Enver that they would resign if Germany succeeded in her
intrigues. Thus the 'atmosphere was exciting; how tense the
situation was a single, episode will show. Sir Louis Mallet, the
British Ambassador, had accepted an. invitation to dine at
the American Embassy on October 20th, but he sent word at the
last moment that he was ill and could not come. I' called on
the Ambassador an hour or two afterward and found him in his
garden, apparently in the best of health. Sir Louis smiled and
said that his illness had been purely political. He had received
a letter telling him that he was to be assassinated that evening,
this letter informing him of the precise spot where the tragedy
was to take place, and the time.' He therefore thought that he
had better stay indoors. As I had no doubt that some such crime
had been planned, I offered Sir Louis the protection of our
Embassy. I gave him the key to the back gate of the garden,
and, with Lord Wellesley, one of his secretaries — a descendant
of the Duke of Wellington — I made all arrangements for his
escape to our quarters in case a flight became necessary. Our
two Embassies were so located that, in the event of an attack,
he might go. unobserved from the back gate of his to the" back
gate of ours. " These people are relapsing into the Middle Ages,"
said Sir Louis, " when it was quite the thing to throw Ambassa-
dors into dungeons," and I think that he anticipated that the
present Turks might treat him in the same way. I at once went
to the Grand Vizier and informed him of the situation, insisting
that nothing less than a visit from Talaat to Sir Louis, assuring
him of safety, would satisfy his many friends. I could make this
demand with propriety, as we had already made arrangements to
take over British interests when the break came. Within two
hours Talaat made such a visit. Though one of the Turkish
newspapers was printing scurrilous attacks on Sir Louis, he was
personally very popular with the Turks, and the Grand Vizier
expressed his amazement and regret — and he was entirely sincere
— that such threats had been made.

CHAPTER XI .

GERMANY COMPELS TURKEY TO ENTER THE WAR

But we were all there' in a highly nervous state, because we knew
that Germany was working hard to produce a casus belli. Souchon
frequently sent the Goehen and the Breslaii to manoeuvre in the
Black Sea, hoping that the Russian fleet would attack.' There
were several pending situations that might end in war. Turkish
and Russian troops were having occasional sldrmishes on the
Persian and Caucasian frontier. On October 29th Bedouin
troops crossed the Egyptian border and had a little collision with
British soldiers. On October 29th I had a long talk with Talaat.
I called in the interest of the British Ambassador, to tell him
about the Bedouins crossing into Egypt. " I suppose," Sir
Louis wrote me, " that this means war ; you might mention this
news to Talaat and impress upon him the possible results of this
mad act." Already Sir Louis had had difficulties with Turkey
over this matter. When he had protested to the Grand Vizier
about the Turkish troops near the Egyptian frontier, the Turkish
statesman had pointedly replied that Turkey recognised no such
thing as an Egyptian frontier. By this he meant, of course, that
Egypt itself was Turkish territory and that the EngHsh occupa-
tion was a temporary usurpation. When I brought this Egyptian
situation to Talaat 's attention he said that no Ottoman Bedouins
had crossed into Egj^pt. The Turks had been building wells on
the Sinai Peninsula to use in case war broke out with England ;
England was destroying these wells, and the Bedouins, said
Talaat, had interfered to stop this destruction.

A± this meeting Talaat frankly told me that Turkey had
decided to side with the Germans and to sink or swim with them.
He went again over the famiUar grounds, and added that if
Germany won — and Talaat said that he was convinced that
Germany would win — the Kaiser would get his revenge on
Turkey if Turkey had not helped him to obtain this victory,
Talaat frankly admitted that fear — the motive which, as I have'
said, is the 'one that chiefly inspires Turkish acts — was driving
Turkey into a German alliance. He analysed the whole situation
most "dispassionately ; he said that nations could not afford

Germany Compels Turkey to Enter the War 8i

such emotions as gratitude, or hate, or affection ; the only guide
to action should be cold-blooded policy.

" At this moment," said Talaat, " it is for our interest to side
with Germany ; if, a month from now, it is our interest to
embrace France and England, we shall do that just as readily."

" Russia is our greatest enemy," he continued, " and we are
afraid of her. If now, while Germany is attacking Russia, we
can give her a good strong kick, and so make her powerless to
injure us for some time, it is Turkey's duty to administer that
kick " !

And then turning to me with a half-melancholy, half-defiant
smile, he summed up the whole situation.

" Ich mit die Deittschen," he said in his broken German.

Because the Cabinet was so divided, however, the Germans
themselves had to push Turkey over the precipice. The evening
following my talk with Talaat, most fateful news came from
Russia. Three Turkish torpedo boats had entered the harbour
of Odessa, had sunk the Russian gunboat Donetz, killing a part of
the crew, and had damaged two Russian dreadnoughts. They
also sank the French ship Portugal, killing two of the crew and
wounding two others. They then turned their shells on the town
and destroyed a sugar factory, with some loss of life. German
officers commanded these Turkish vessels ; there were very few
Turks on board, as the Turkish crew had been given a holiday for
the Turkish religious festival of Bairam. The act was simply a
wanton and unprovoked one ; the Germans raided the town
deliberately, simply to make war inevitable. The German
officers on the General, as my friend had told me, were constantly
threatening to commit some such act if Turkey did not do so ;
well, now they had done it. When this news reached Con-
stantinople, Djemal was playing cards at the Cercle d'Orient.
As Djemal was Minister of Marine, this attack, had it been an-
official act of Turkey, could have been made only on his orders.
When someone called him from the card-table to tell him the
news Djemal was much excited. " I know nothing about it,"
he replied. '' It has not been done by my orders." On the
evening of the 29th I had another talk with talaat. He told me
that he had known nothing of this attack beforehand, and that
the whole responsibility rested with the German, Admiral
Souchon.

Whether Djemal and Talaat were telHng the truth in thus
pleading ignorance I do not know ; my opinion is' that they were
expecting some such outrage as this. But there is no question
that the Grand Vizier, Said Halim, was genuinely grieved,

G

82 Secrets of the Bosphorus

When M. Bompard and Sir Louis Mallet called on him and
demanded their passports he burst into tears. He begged them
to delay ; he was sure that the matter could be adjusted. The
Grand Vizier was the only member of the Cabinet whom Enver
and Talaat particularly wished to placate. As a prince of the
royal house of Egypt, and as an extremely rich nobleman, his
presence in. the Cabinet, as I have already said, gave it a certain
standing. This probably explains the message which I now
received. Talaat asked me to call upon the Russian Ambassador
and ask what amends Turkey could make that would satisfy the
Czar. There is little likelihood that Talaat sincerely wished me
to patch up the difficulties ; his purpose was merely to show the
Grand Vizier that he was attempting to meet his wishes and, in
thisWay, to keep him in the Cabinet. I saw M. Giers, but found
himpn no submissive mood. He said that Turkey could make
amends only by dismissing all the German officers in the Turkish
Army and Navy ; he had his instructions to leave at once and he
should do so. However, he would wait long enough in Bulgaria
to receive their reply, and, if they accepted his terms, he would
come back.

" Russia, herself, will guarantee that the Turkish fleet does
not again come into the Black Sea," said M. Giers grimly.
Talaat called on me in the afternoon, saying that he had just had
lunch with Wangenheim. The Cabinet had the Russian reply
under consideration, he said. The Grand Vizier wished to have
M. Giers's terms put in writing ; would I attempt to get it ?
By this time Garroni, the Italian Ambassador, had taken charge
of Russian affairs, and I told Talaat that such negotiations were
out of my hands, and that any further negotiations must be
conducted through him.

" Why don't you drop your mask as messenger-boy of the
Grand Vizier and talk to me as Talaat ? " I asked.

He laughed and said : " Well, Wangenheim, 'Enver, and
prefer that the war shall come now."

Bustany, Oskan, Mahmoud, and Djavid at once carried out
their threats and resigned from the Cabinet, thus leaving the
Government in the hands of Moslem Turks. The Grand Vizier,
although he had threatened to resign, did not do so. He was
exceedingly pompous and vain, and enjoyed the dignities of hi^
office so much that, when it came to the final decision, he could
not surrender them. Thus the net result of Turkey's entrance
into the war, so far as internal poKtics was concerned, was to put
the nation entirely in the hands of the Committee of Union and
Progress, which now controlled the Government in practically all

Germany Compels Turkey to Enter the War 83

its departments. Thus the idealistic organisation which had
come into existence to give Turkey the blessings of democracy
had ended by becoming a tool of Prussian autocracy.

One final picture I have of these exciting days. On the
evening of the 30th I called at the British Embassy. British
residents were already streaming in large numbers to my office
for protection, and fears of ill-treatment, even the massacre of
foreigners, filled everybody's mind. Amid all this tension I
found one imperturbable figure. Sir Louis was sitting in the
chancery, before a huge fireplace, with large piles of documents
heaped about him in a semi-circle. Secretaries and clerks were
constantly entering, their arms full of papers, which they added
to the accumulations already surrounding the Ambassador. Sir
Louis would take up document after document, glance through
it, and almost invariably drop it into the fire. These papers
contained the Embassy records for probably a hundred years.
In them were written the great achievements of a long line of
distinguished Ambassadors. There appeared the story of all the
diplomatic triumphs in Turkey of Stratford de Redchffe, the
" Great Elchi," as the Turks called him, who, for the greater
part of almost fifty years, from 1810 to 1858, practically ruled the
Turkish Empire in the interest of England. The records of other
great British Ambassadors at the Subhme Porte now went, one
by one, into Sir Louis Mallet's fire. The long story of British
ascendancy in Turkey had reached its close. The twenty years'
campaign of the Kaiser to destroy England's influence and to
become England's successor had finally triumphed, and the
blaze in Sir Louis's chancery was really the funeral pyre of
England's vanished power in. Turkey. As I looked upon this
dignified and yet somewhat pensive diplomat, sitting there amid
aU the splendours of the British Embassy, I naturally thought of
how once the Sultans had bowed with fear and awe before the
majesty of England, in the days when Prussia and Germany were
httle more than names. Yet the British Ambassador, as is
usually the case with British diplomatic and military figures, was
quiet and self-possessed. We sat there before his fire and
discussed the details of his departure. He gave me a list of the
English residents who were to leave and those who were to stay,
i and I made final arrangements with Sir Louis for taking over
I British interests. Distressing in many ways as was this collapse
! of British influence in Turkey, the honour of Great Britain and
; that of her Ambassador was still secure. Sir Louis had not
i purchased Turkish officials with money, as had Wangenheim ;
I he had not corrupted the Turkish Press, trampled on every

84 Secrets of the Bosphorus

remaining vestige of international law, fraternised with a gang
of political desperadoes, and conducted a ceaseless campaign of
misrepresentations and lies against his enemy. The diplomatic
game that had ended in England's defeat was one which English
statesmen were not qualified to play. It called for talents such
as only a Wangenheim possessed — it needed that German state-
craft which, in accordance with Bismarck's maxim, was ready to
sacrificefor the Fatherland " not only life but honour."

pa

CHAPTER XII

THE TURKS ATTEMPT TO TREAT ALIEN ENEMIES DECENTLY, BUT
THE GERMANS INSIST ON PERSECUTING THEM

Soon after the bombardment of Odessa I was closeted with Enver,
discussing the subject wfiich was then uppermost in the minds of
all the foreigners in Turkey. How would the Government treat
its resident enemies ? Would it intern them, establish con-
centration camps, pursue them with German malignity, and
perhaps apply the favourite Turkish measure with Christians —
torture and massacre ? Thousands of enemy subjects were then
living in the Ottoman Empire. Many of them had spent their
whole lives there ; others had even been born on Ottoman soil.
All these people, when Turkey entered the war, had every reason
to expect the harshest kind of treatment. It is no exaggeration
to say that most of them lived in constant fear of murder. The
Dardanelles had been closed, so that there was little chance that
outside help could reach these people ; the capitulatory rights,
under which they had Uved for centuries, had been abrogated.
There was really nothing betvveen the foreign residents and
destruction except the American flag. The state of war had now
made me, as American Ambassador, the protector of all British,
French, Serbian, and Belgian subjects. I realised from the
beginning that my task would be a difiticult one. On one hand
were the Germans, urging their well-known ideas of repression
and brutality, while on the other were the Turks, with their
traditional hatred of Christians and their natural instinct to
maltreat those who are helplessly placed in their power.

Yet I had certain strong arguments on my side, and I now
had called upon Enver for the purpose of laying them before him.
Turkey desired the good opinion of the United States, and hoped,
after the war, to find support among American financiers. At
that time all the Embassies in Constantinople took it for granted
that the United States would be the peacemaker. If Turkey
expected us to be her friend, I now told Enver, she would have
to treat enemy foreigners in a civilised way.

" You hope to be reinstated as a world power," I said. " You
must remember that the civilised world will carefully watch
you ; your future status will depend on how you conduct yourself

86 Secrets of the Bosphorus

in war." The more educated Turks, including Enver, realised
that the outside world regarded them as a people who had no
respect for the sacredness of human life or the finer emotions,
and they keenly resented this attitude. I now reminded Enver
that Turkey had a splendid opportunity to disprove all these
criticisms. " The world may say y(5u are barbarians," I argued ;
" show by the way you treat these alien enemies that you are
not. Only in this way can you be freed permanently from the
ignominy of the capitulations. Prove that you are worthy of
being emancipated from foreign tutelage. Be civilised — be
modern ! "

In view of what was happening in Belgium and Northern
France at that moment, my use of the word " modern " was a
little unfortunate. Enver quickly saw the point. Up to this
time he had maintained his usual attitude of erect and dignified
composure, and his face, as always, had been attentive, im-
perturbable, almost expressionless. Now in a flash his whole
bearing changed. His countenance broke into a cynical smile ;
he leaned over, brought his fist down on the table, and said :

" Modem ! No, however Turkey shall wage war, at least we
shall not be ' modern.' That is the ipost barbaric system of all.
We shall simply try to be decent ! "

Naturally I construed this as a promise. I understood the
changeableness of the Turkish character well enough, however,
to know that more than a promise was necessary. The Germans
were constantly prodding the Turkish officials, persuading them
to adopt the favourite plan of operations against enemy ahens.
Germany had revived many of the principles of ancient and
medieval warfare, one of her most barbaric resurrections from'
the past being this practice of keeping certain representatives of
the population, preferably people of distinction and influence, as
hostages for' the " good behaviour " of others. At this moment
the German military staff was urging the Turks to keep foreign
residents for this purpose. Just as the Germans held non-
combatants in Belgium as security for the " friendliness " of the
Belgians, and placed Belgian women and children at the head of
their advancing armies, so the Germans in Turkey were now
planning to use French and British residents as part of their
protective system against the Allied fleet. That this sinister
influence was constantly at work I well knew ; it was, therefore,
necessary that I should meet it immediately, and, if possible,
gain the upper hand at the very start. 1 decided that the
departure of the Entente diplomats and residents from Con-
stantinople would really put to the test my ability to protect the

Treatment of Alien Enemies 87

foreign residents. If all the French and English who really
wished to leave could safeh^ get out of Turkey I believed that
this demonstration would have a restraining influence, not only
upon the Germans, but upon the underlings of the Turkish
official world.

As soon as I arrived at the railroad station, the day following
the break, I saw that my task was not to be a simple one. I had
arranged with the Turkish authorities for two trains : one for
the English and French residents, which was to leave at seven
o'clock, and one for the diplomats and their staff, which was to
go at nine. But the arrangement was not working according to
schedule. The station was a surging mass of excited and
frightened people ; the poUce were there in full force, pushing
the crowds back ; the scene was an indescribable mixture of
soldiers, gendarmes, diplomats, baggage, and Turkish function-
aries.

One of the most conspicuous figures was Bedri Bey, Prefect
of Police, a lawyer-politician, who had recently been elevated to
this position, and who keenly reaHsed the importance of his new
office. Bedri was an intimate friend and political subordinate
of Talaat and one of his most valuable tools. He ranked high
in the Committee of Union and Progress, and aspired ultimately
to obtain a Cabinet position. Perhaps his most impelling motive
was his hatred of foreigners and foreign influence. In his eyes
Turkey was the land exclusively of the Turks ; he hated aU the
other elements in its population, and he particularly resented the
control which the foreign Embassies had for years exerted in the
domestic concerns of his country. Indeed, there were few men
in Turkey with whom the permanent abohtion of the capitula-
tions was such a heartfelt issue. Naturally, in the next few
months I saw much of Bedri ; he was constantly crossing my
path, taking an almost mahcious pleasure in interfering with
every move which I made in the interest of the foreigners. His
attitude was half -provoking, half- jocular ; we were always trying
to outwit each other— I attempting to protect the French and
British, Bedri always turning up as an obstacle to my efforts.
The fight for the foreigners, indeed, almost degenerated into a
personal duel between the Prefect of Police and the American
Embassy. Bedri was capable, well-educated, very agile, and not
partiqularly ill-natured, but he loved to toy with a helpless
foreigner. Naturally he found his occupation this evening a
congenial one.

" What's al! the trouble about ? " I asked Bedri.

" We have changed our minds," he said, and his manner

88 Secrets of the Bosphorus

showed that the change had not been displeasing to him., " We
shall let the train go that is to take the Ambassadors and their
staf(s, but we have decided not to let the unoihcial classes leave
— the train that was to take them will not go."

My staff and myself had worked hard to get this free passage
for the enemy nationals. Now apparently some' influence had
negatived our efforts. This sudden change in plans was produc-
ing the utmost confusion and consternation. At the station
there were two groups of passengers, one of which could go and
the other of which could not. The British and French Am-
bassadors did not wish to leave their nationals behind, and the
latter refused to believe that their train, which the Turkish
officials had definitely promised, would not start some time that
evening. I immediately called up Enver, who substantiated
Bedri's statement. Turkey had many subjects in Egypt, he
said, whose situation was causing great anxiety. Before the
French and EngUsh residents could leave Turkey assurances
must be given that the rights of Turkish subjects in these
countries would be protected. I had no difficulty in arranging
this detail, for Sir Louis Mallet immediately gave the necessary
assurances. However, this did not settle the matter ; indeed, it
had been little more than a pretext. Bedri still refused to let
the train start. The order holding it up, he said, could not be
rescinded, for that would now disarrange the general schedule
and might cause accidents. I recognised all this as mere Turkish
evasion, and I knew that the order had come from a higher source
than Bedri. Still, nothing could be done at that moment.
Moreover, Bedri would let no one get on the diplomatic train
until I had personally identified him. So I had to stand at a
little gate and pass upon each appHcant. Everyone, whether
he belonged to the diplomatic corps or not, attempted to force
himself through this narrow passage-way, and we had an old-
fashioned Brooklyn Bridge crush on a small scale. People were
running in all directions, checking baggage, purchasing tickets,
arguing with officials, consohng distracted women and frightened
children, while Bedri, calm and collected, watched the whole
pandemonium with an unsympathetic smile. Hats were knocked
off, clothing was torn, and, to add to the confusion. Mallet, the
British Ambassador, became involved in a set-to with an officious
Turk — the Englishman winning first honours easily ; and I
caught a glimpse of Bompard, the French Ambassador, vigor-
ously shaking a Turkish policeman. One lady dropped her baby
in my arms, later another handed me a small boy, and still later,
when I was standing at the gate identifying Turkey's departing

Treatment of Alien Enemies 89

guests, one of the British secretaries made me the custodian of
his dog. Meanwhile, Sir Louis Mallet became obstreperous and
refused to leave.

" I shall stay here," he said, " until the last British subject
leaves Turkey."

But I told him that he was no lon^ger the protector of the
British ; that I, as American Ambassador, had assumed this
responsibility ; and that I could hardly assert myself in this
capacity if he remained in Constantinople.

" Certainly," I said, ' the Turks would not recognise me as in
charge of British interests if you remain here."

Moreover, I suggested that he remain at Dedeagatch for a
few days, and await the arrival of his fellow British. If I did not
succeed in getting them out of the country, then he could return.
Sir Louis reluctantly accepted my point of view and boarded the
train. As the train left the station I caught my final ghmpse of
the British Ambassador, sitting in his private car, almost buried
in a mass of trunks, satchels, boxes, and diplomatic pouches,
surrounded by his Embassy staff, and sympathetically watched
by his first secretary's dog.

The unofficial foreigners remained in the station several hours,
hoping that, at the last moment, they would be permitted to go.
Bedri, however, was inexorable. Their position was almost
desperate. They had given up their quarters in Constantinople,
and .now found themselves practically stranded. Some were
taken in by friends for the night, others found accommodation
in hotels, but their situation caused the utmost anxiety.
Evidently, despite all official promises, Turkey was determined to
keep these foreign residents as hostages. On the one hand were
Enver and Talaat, telling me that they intended to conduct their
war in a humane manner, and, on the other, were their underlings,
such as Bedri, behaving in a fashion that negatived all these
civihsed pretensions. The fact was that the ofticials were
quarrelling among themselves about the treatment of foreigners,
and the German General Staff was telling the Cabinet that they
were making a great mistake in showing any leniency to their
enemy aliens. Finally I succeeded in making arrangements for
them to leave the following day. Bedri, in more complaisant
mood, spent that afternoon at the Embassy, viseing passports.
We both went to the station in the evening and started the train
safely to Dedeagatch. I gave a box of candy — " Turkish
Delights " — to each one of the fifty women and children on the
train ; it altogether was a happy party, and they made no
attempt to liide their rehef at leaving Turkey. At Dedeagatch

go Secrets of the Bosphorus

they met the diplomatic corps, and the reunion that took place,
I afterward learned, was extremely touching. I was made happy
by receiving many testimonials of their gratitude, in particular
a letter, signed by more than a hundred, expressing their thanks
to Mrs. Morgenthau, the Embassy Staff, and myself.

There were still several who wished to go, and next day I
called on Talaat in their behalf. I found him in one of his most
gracious moods. The Cabinet, he said, had carefully considered
the whole matter of Enghsh and French residents in Turkey, and
my arguments, he added, had greatly influenced them. They
had reached the formal decision that enemy aliens could leave or
remain, as they preferred. There would be no concentration
camps, civilians could pursue their usual business in peace, and,
so long as they behaved. themselves, they would not be molested.

" We proposed to show," said Talaat, " by our treatment of
aliens, that we are not a race of barbarians."

In return for this promise he asked a favour of me : would I
not see that Turkey was praised in the American and European
Press for this decision ?

After returning to the Embassy I immediately sent for Mr.
Theron Damon, correspondent of the Associated Press, Doctor
Lederer, correspondent of the Berliner Tagehlatt, and Doctor
Sandler, who represented the Paris Herald, and gave them
interviews, praising the attitude of Turkey toward the foreign
residents. I also cabled the news to Washington, London, and
Paris, and to all our consuls.

Hardly had I finished with the correspondents when I again
received alarming news. I had arranged for another train that
evening, and I now heard that the Turks were refusing to vise
the passports of those whose departure I had provided for. This
news, coming right after Talaat 's expHcit promise, was naturally
disturbing. I immediately started for the railroad station, and
the sight which I saw there increased my anger at the Minister of
the Interior. A mass of distracted people filled the enclosure ;
the women were weeping and the children were screaming, while
a platoon of Turkish soldiers, commanded by an undersized
popinjay of a major, was driving everybody out of the station
with the flat sides of their guns. Bedri, as usual, was there, and,
as usual, he was clearly enjoying the confusion. Certain of the
passengers, he told me, had riot paid their income tax, and, for
this reason, they would not be permitted to leave. I announced
that I would be personally responsible for this payment.

" I can't get ahead of you, Mr. Ambassador, can I ? " said
Bedri, with a laugh. From this we all thought that my offer

Treatment of Alien Enemies 91

had settled the matter and that the train would leave as per
schedule. But then suddenly came another order holding it up
again.

Since I had just had my promise with Talaat, I decided to
find that functionary and learn what all this meant. I jumped
into my automobile and went to the Subhme Porte, where he
usually had his headquarters. Finding no one there, I told the
chauffeur to drive directly to Talaat 's house. Some time before
I had visited Enver in his domestic surroundings, and this
occasion now gave me the opportunity to compare his manner of
life with that of Ms more powerful associate. The contrast was
a startling one. I had found Enver living in luxury in one of the
most aristocratic parts of the town, while now I was driving to
one of the poorer sections. We came to a narrow street, bordered •
by httle rough, unpainted wooden houses ; only one thing
distinguished tliis thoroughfare from all others in Constantinople
and suggested that it was the abiding-place of the most powerful
man in the Turkish Empire. At either end stood a poHceman
letting no one enter who could not give a satisfactory reason for
doing so. Our auto, hke all others, was stopped, but we were
promptly permitted to pass when we explained who we were.
As contrasted with Enver 's palace, with its innumerable rooms
and gorgeous furniture, Talaat 's house was an old rickety,
wooden, three-storey building. All this, I afterwards learned,
was part of the setting which Talaat had staged for his career.
Like many an American politician, he had found his position as
a man of " the people " a valuable political asset, and he knew
that a sudden display of prosperity and ostentation would
weaken his influence with the Union and Progress Committee,
most of whose members, like himself, had risen from the lower
walks of hfe. The contents of the house were quite in keeping
with the exterior. There were no suggestions of Oriental
magnificence. The furniture was cheap ; a few coarse prints hung
on the w^alls, and one or two well-worn rugs were scattered on
the floor. On one side stood a wooden table, and on this
rested a telegraph instrument — once Talaat 's means of earning a
living, and now the means by which he communicated with his
associates. In the present troubled conditions in Turkey Talaat
preferred to do his own telegraphing.

Amid these surroundings I waited for a few minutes the
entrance of the Big Boss of Turkey. In due time a door opened
at the other end of the room, and a huge, lumbering, gaily-
decorated figure entered. I was startled by the contrast which
this Talaat presented to the one who had become such a familiar

92 Secrets of the Bosphorus

figure to me at the Sublime Porte. It was no longer the Talaat
of the European clothes and the thin veneer of European
manners ; the man whom I now saw looked like a real Bulgarian
gypsy. Talaat wore the usual red Turkish fez ; the rest of his
bulky form was clothed in thick grey pyjamas, and from this
combination protruded a rotund, smiling face. His mood was
half-genial, half-deprecating. Talaat well understood what
pressing business had led me to invade his domestic privacy, and
his behaviour now resembled that of the unrepentant bad boy in
school. He came and sat down with a good-natured grin, and
began to make excuses. Quietly the door opened again, and a
hesitating little girl was pushed into the room, bringing a tray of
cigarettes and coffee. Presently I saw that a young woman,
apparently about twenty-five years old, was standing back of the
child, urging her to enter. Here, then, were Talaat 's wife and
adopted daughter. I had already discovered that, while Turkish
women never enter society or act as hostesses, they are extremely
inquisitive about their husbands' guests, and hke to get sur-
reptitious glimpses of them. Evidently Madame Talaat, on this
occasion, was not satisfied with her preliminary view, for a few
minutes afterward she appeared at a window directly opposite
me, but entirely unseen by her husband, who was facing in the
other direction, and there she remained very quiet and very
observant for several minutes. As she was in the house, she was
unveiled ; her face was handsome and intelligent, and it was
quite apparent that she enjoyed this close-range view of an
American Ambassador.

" Well, Talaat," I said, realising that the time had come for
plain speaking, " don't you- know how foolishly you are acting ?
You told me a few hours ago that you had decided to treat the
French and Enghsh decently, and you asked me to pubhsh this
news in the American and foreign Press. I at once called in the
newspaper men and told them how splendidly you were behaving.
And this at your own request ! The whole world will be reading
about it to-morrow. Now you are doing your best to counteract
all my efforts in your behalf ; here you have repudiated your first
promise to be decent. Are you going to keep the promises you
made me ? Will you stick to them, or do you intend to keep
changing your mind all the time ? Now let's have a real under-
standing. The thing we Americans particularly pride ourselves
on is keeping our word. We do it as individuals and as a nation.
We refuse to deal with people as equals who do not do this. You -
might as well understand now that we can do no business with
each other unless I can depend on your promises."

Treatment of Alien Enemies 93

" Now, this isn't my fault," Talaat answered. " The
Germans are to blame for stopping that train. The German
Chief of Staff has just returned and is making a big fuss, saying
that we are too easy with the French and English and that we
must not let them go away. He says that we must keep them
for hostages. It was his interference that did this."

That was precisely what I had suspected. Talaat had given
me his promise, then Bronssart, head of the German Staff, had
practically countermanded his orders. Talaat 's admission gave
me the opening which I had wished for. By this time my
relations with Talaat had become so friendly that I could talk to
him almost as I could talk to my own son.

" Now, Talaat, ' I said, " you have got to have someone to
advise you in your relations with foreigners. You must make up
your mind whether you want me or the German Staff. Don't
you think you will make a mistake if you place yourself entirely
in the hands of the Germans ? The time may come when you
will need me against the Germans."

" What do you mean by that ? " he asked, watching for my
answer with intense curiosity.

" The Germans are sure to ask you to do many things you
don't want to do. If you can tell them that the American
Ambassador objects, my support may prove useful to you.
Besides, you know we all expect peace in a few months. You
know that the Germans really care nothing for Turkey,- and
certainly you have no claims on the Allies for assistance. There
is only one nation in the world that you can look to as a dis-
interested friend, and that is the United States."

This fact was so apparent that I hardly needed to argue it in
any great detail. However, I had another argument that struck
still nearer home. Already the struggle between the war depart-
ment and the civil powers had started. I knew that Talaat,
although he was Minister of the Interior and a. civihan, wsls
determined not to sacrifice a little of his authority to Enver, the
Germans, and the representatives of the military.

" If you let the Germans win this point to-day," I said, " you
are practically in their power. You are now the head of affairs,
but you are still a ci\'ilian. Are you going to let the military,
represented by Enver and the German Staff, over-rule your
orders ? Apparently that is what has happened to-day. If you
submit to it, you will find that they will be running things from
now on. The Germans will put this country'under martial law ;
then where will you civilians be ? "

I could see that this argument was having its effect on Talaat.

94 Secrets of the Bosphorus

He remained quiet for a few moments, evidently pondering my
remarks: Then he said, with the utmost dehberation :

" I am going to help you."

He turned around to his table and began working his telegraph
instrument. I shall never forget the picture ; this huge Turk,
sitting there in his grey pyjamas and his red fez, working in-
dustriously his own telegraph key, his young wife gazing at him
through a little window, and the late afternoon sun streaming
into the room. Evidently the ruler of Turkey was having his
troubles, and, as the argument went on over the telegraph,
Talaat would bang his key with increasing irritation. He told
me that the pompous major at the station insisted on having
Enver's written orders, since orders over the wire might easily
be counterfeited. It took Talaat some time to locate Enver, and
then the dispute apparently started all over again. A piece of
news which Talaat received at that moment over the wire almost
ruined my case. After a prolonged thumping of his instrument,
in the course of which Talaat 's face lost its geniality and became
almost savage, he turned to me and said :

" The English bombarded the Dardanelles this morning and
killed two Turks ! "

And then he added :

" We intend to kill three Christians for every Moslem killed ! "

For a moment I thought that everything was lost. Talaat 's
face reflected only one emotion — hatred of the English. After-
ward, when reading the Cromer report on the Dardanelles, I
found that the British Committee stigmatised this early attack a
mistake, as it gave the Turks an early warning of their plans. I
can testify that it was a mistake for another reason, for I now
found that these few stray shots almost destroyed my plans to
get the foreign residents out of Turkey. Talaat was enraged,
and I had to go over much of the ground again, but finally I
succeeded in pacifying him once more. I saw that he was
vacillating between his desire to punish the EngUsh and his desire
to assert his own authority over that of Enver and the Germans.
Fortunately the latter motive gained the ascendancy. At all
hazard, he was determined to show that he was boss.

We remained there more than two hours, my involuntary host
pausing now and then in his telegraphing to entertain me with
the latest political gossip. Djavid, the Minister of Finance, he
said, had resigned, but had promised to work for them at home.
The Grand Vizier, despite his threats, had been persuaded to
retain his office. Foreigners in the interior would not be molested
unless Beirut, Alexandretta, or some unfortified port were

Treatment of Alien Enemies 95

bombarded, but, if such attacks were made, they would exact
reprisals of the French and English. Talaat's conversation
showed that he had no particular liking for the Germans. They
were overbearing and insolent, he said, constantly interfering in
military matters, and treating the Turks with disdain.

Finally the train was arranged. Talaat had shown several
moods in this interview ; he had been by turns sulky, good-
natured, savage, and complaisant. There is one phase of the
Turkish character which Westerners do not comprehend, and
that is its keen sense of humour. Talaat himself greatly loved a
joke and a funny story. Now that he had re-estabhshed friendly
relations and redeemed his promise, Talaat became jocular once
more.

" Your people can go now," he said with a laugh. " It's time
to buy your candies, Mr. Ambassador ! "

i '-This latter, of course, was a reference to the little gifts which
I had made to the women and children the night before. We
immediately returned to the station, where we found the dis-
consolate passengers sitting around waiting for a favourable
word. When I told them that the train would leave that
evening, their thanks and gratitude were overwhelming.

CHAPTER XIII

THE INVASION OF THE ZION SISTERS* SCHOOL

Talaat's statement that the German Chief of Staff, Bronsart,
had really held up this train was a valuable piece of information.
I decided to look into the matter further, and, with this idea in
my mind, I called next day on Wangenheim. The Turkish
authorities, I said, had solemnly promised that they would treat
their enemies decently, and certainly I could not tolerate any
interference in the matter from the German Chief of Staff.
Wangenheim had repeatedly told me that the Germans were
looking to President Wilson as the peacemaker, and I therefore

.used the same argument with him that I had urged on Talaat.
Proceedings of this sort would not help his country when the day
of the final settlement came. Here, I said, we have a strange
situation ; a so-called barbarous country, like Turkey, attempting
to make civilised warfare and treat their Christian enemies with
decency and kindness, and, on the other hand, a supposedly
cultured and Christian nation, like Germany, which is trying to
dissuade them from this resolve. " What sort of an impression
do you think that will make on the American people ? '' I asked
Wangenheim. He expressed a willingness to help, and suggested,
as my consideration for such help, that I should try to persuade
the United States to insist on free commerce with Germany, so
that his country could receive plentiful cargoes of copper, wheat,
and cotton. This was a subject to which, as I shall relate,
Wangenheim constantly returned.

Despite Wangenheim's promise, I had practically no support
from the German Embassy in my attempt to protect the foreign
residents from Turkish ill-treatment. I realised that, owing to
my religion, there might be a feeling in certain quarters that I

' was not exerting aU my energies in behalf of these Christian .
peoples and religious organisations— hospitals, schools, monas-
teries, and convents — and I naturally thought that it would
strengthen my influence with the Turks if I could have the '
support of my most powerful Christian colleagues. I had a long
discussion on this matter with Pallavicini, himself a CathoKc and
the representative of the greatest Catholic Power. Pallavicini
frankly told me that Wangenheim would do nothing that would

The Invasion of the Zion Sisters' School 97

annoy the Turks. There was then a constant fear that the
Enghsh and French fleets would force the Dardanelles, capture
Constantinople, and hand it over to Russia, and only the Turkish
forces, said PaUavicini, could prevent such a calamity. The
Germans therefore believed that they were dependent on the
good graces of the Turkish Government, and would do nothing to
antagonise them. Evidently PaUavicini wished me to believe
that Wangenheim and he really desired to help. Yet this plea
was hardly disingenuous, for I knew all the time that Turkey,
if the Germans had not constantly interfered, would have
behaved decently. I found that the evil spirit was not the
Turkish Government, but von Bronsart, the German Chief of
Staff. The fact that certain members of the Turkish Cabinet
who represented European and Christian culture — men like
Bustany and Oskan — had resigned as a protest against Turkey's
action in entering the war, made the situation of foreigners even
more dangerous. There was also much conflict of authority ; a
policy decided on one day would be reversed the next, the result
being that we never knew where we stood. The mere fact that
the Government promised me that foreigners would not be mal-
treated by no means settled the matter, for some underhng, hke
Bedri Bey, could frequently find an excuse for disregarding
instructions. The situation, therefore, was one that called for
constant vigilance ; I had not only to get pledges from men hke
Talaat and Enver, but I had personally to see that these pledges
were carried into action.

I awoke one November morning at four o'clock ; I had been
dreaming, or I had had a " presentiment," that all was not going
well with the Sion Soeurs, a French sisterhood which had for
many years conducted a school for girls in Constantinople.
Madame Bompard, the wife of the French Ambassador, and
several ladies of the French colony, had particularly requested me

I to keep a watchful eye on this institution. It was a splendidly-
conducted school ; the daughters of many of the best families of
all nationalities attended it, and when these girls were assembled,
the Christians wearing silver crosses and the non-Christians
silver stars, the sight was particularly beautiful and impressive.
Naturally the thought of the brutal Turks breaking into such a

I community was enough to arouse the wrath of any properly
constituted man. Though we had nothing more definite than an
uneasy feeling that something might be wrong, Mrs. Morgenthau
and I decided to go up immediately after breakfast. As we
approached the building we noted nothing particularly sus-
picious ; the place was quiet and the whole atmosphere was one

H

98 Secrets of the Bosphorus

of peace and sanctity. Just as we ascended the steps, however,
five Turkish policemen followed on our heels. They crowded
after us into the vestibule, much to the consternation of a few of
the Sisters, who happened to be in the waiting-room. The mere
fact that the American Ambassador came with the police in
itself increased their alarm, though our arrival together was
purely coincidental.

" What do you want ? " I asked, turning to the men. As they
spoke only Turkish, naturally they did not understand me, and
they started to push me aside. My own knowledge of Turkish
was extremely limited, but I knew that the word " Elchi "
meant " Ambassador." So, pointing to myself, I said " Elchi
Americaner."

This scrap of Turkish worked like magic. In Turkey an
Ambassador is a much revered object, and these policemen im-
mediately respected my authority. Meanwhile the Sisters had
sent for their Superior, Mere Elvira. This lady was one of the
most distinguished and influential personages in Constantinople.
That morning, as she came in quietly and faced these Turkish
policemen, showing not a sign of fear, and completely overawing
them by the splendour and dignity of her bearing, she represented
to my eyes almost a supernatural being. Mere Elvira was a
daughter of one of the most aristocratic families of France ; she
was a woman of perhaps forty years of age, with black hair and
shining black eyes, all accentuated by a pale face that radiated
culture, character, and intelligence. I could not help thinking,
as I looked at her that morning, that there was not a diplomatic
circle in the world to which she would not have added grace and
dignity. In a few seconds Mere Elvira had this present dis-
tracting situation completely under control. She sent for a Sister
who spoke Turkish, and queried the policemen. They said that
they were acting under Bedri's orders. All the foreign schools
were to be closed that morning, the Government intending to
seize all their buildings. There were about seventy-two teachers j
and Sisters in this convent ; the pohce had orders to shut all these j
into two rooms, where they were to be held practically as;
prisoners. There were about two hundred girls ; these were to j
be turned out into the streets, and left to shift for themselves.
The fact that it was raining in torrents, and that the weather was j
extremely cold, accentuated the barbarity of this proceeding.
Yet every enemy school and rehgious institution in Constan-|
tinople was undergoing a similar experience at this time. Clearlyi
this was a situation which I could not handle alone, and I at oncej
telephoned my Turkish-speaking legal adviser. Herein isi

The Invasion of the Zion Sisters' School 99

another incident which may have an interest for those who
believe in providential intervention. When I arrived in Con-
stantinople telephones had been unknown, but, in the last few
months, an English company had been introducing a system.
The night before my experience with the Sion Soeurs, my legal
adviser had called me up and proudly told me that his telephone
had just been installed. I jotted down his number, and this
memorandum I now found in my pocket. Without my inter-
preter I should have been hard pressed, and without this telephone
I could not have immediately brought him to the spot.

While waiting for his arrival I delayed the operations of the
policemen, and my wife, who fortunately speaks French, was
obtaining all the details from the Sisters. Mrs. Morgenthau
understood the Turks well enough to know that they had other
plans than the mere expulsion of the Sisters and their charges.
The Turks regard these institutions as repositories of treasure ;
the valuables which they contain are greatly exaggerated in the
popular mind, and it was a safe assumption that, among other
things, this expulsion was an industrious raiding expedition for
tangible evidences of wealth.

" Have you any money and other valuables here ? " Mrs.
Morgenthau asked one of the Sisters.

Yes, they had in fact quite a little ; it was kept in a safe
upstairs. My wife told me to keep the policemen busy and then
she and one of the Sisters quietly disappeared from the scene,
, Upstairs the Sister disclosed about a hundred square pieces of
white flannel into each one of which had been sewed twenty gold
I coins. In all, the Sion Soeurs had in this liquid form about fifty
thousand francs. They had been fearing expulsion for some time,
and had been getting together their money in this form, so that
' they could carry it away with them when forced to leave Turkey.
'Besides this, the Sisters had several bundles of securities and
many valuable papers, such as the charter of their school.
Certainly here was something that would appeal to Turkish
cupidity. Mrs. Morgenthau knew that if the pohce once obtained
control of the building there would be Httle likelihood that the
Sion Sisters would ever see their money again. With the aid of
the Sisters, my wife promptly concealed as much as she could on
her person, descended the stairs, and marched through a line of
gendarmes out into the rain. Mrs. Morgenthau told me after-
ward that her blood almost ran cold with fright as she passed^by
these guardians of the law ; from all external signs, however,' she
was absolutely calm and collected. She stepped into the waiting
^auto, was driven to the American Embassy, placed the money in
I

^a*1

100 Secrets of the Bosphorus

our vault, and promptly returned to the school. Again Mrs.
Morgenthau solemnly ascended the stairs with the Sisters. This
time they took her to the gallery of the Cathedral, which stood
behind the convent, but could be entered through it. One of the |
Sisters lifted up a tile from a particular spot in the floor, and
again disclosed a heap of gold coins. This was secreted in Mrs.
Morgenthau's clothes, and once more she filed past the gen-
darmes, out into the rain, and was driven rapidly to the Embassy.
In these two trips my wife succeeded in getting the money of the
Sisters to a place where it would be safe from the Turks.

Between Mrs. Morgenthau's trips Bedri had arrived. He told
me that Talaat had himself given the order for closing all the
institutions, and that they had intended to have the entire job
finished before nine o'clock. I have already said that the Turks
have a sense of humour, but to this statement I should add that
it sometimes manifests itself in a perverted form. Bedri now
seemed to think that locking more than seventy Catholic Sisters
in two rooms and turning two hundred young and carefully-
nurtured girls into the streets of Constantinople was a great joke.

" We were going at it early in the morning, to have it all
over before you heard anything about it," he said, with a laugh.,
" But you seem never to be asleep." I

" You are very foolish to try to play such tricks on us," I said.
" Don't you know that I am going to write a book ? If you go
on behaving in this way, I shall put you in as the villain,"

This remark was an inspiration of the moment ; it was then
that it first occurred to me that these experiences might prove
sulhciently interesting for pubhcation. Bedri took the statement
seriously, and it seemed to have a sobering effect.

" Do you really intend to write a book ? " he asked, almost
anxiously.

" Why not ? " I rejoined. " General Lew Wallace was
minister here — didn't he write a book ? ' Sunset ' Cox was alsc
minister here — didn't he write one ? Why shouldn't I ? And
you are such an important character that I shall have to give yoi;
a part. Why do you go on acting in a way that will make me
describe you as a very bad man ? These Sisters here havf
always been your friends. They have never done you anything
but good ; they have educated many of your daughters ; wh}
do you treat them in this shameful fashion ? "

This plea produced an effect ; Bedri consented to postpom
execution of the order until we could get Talaat on the wire. Ir
a few minutes I heard Talaat laughing over the telephone. Itte

" I tried to escape you," he said, " but you have caught mi

The Invasion of the Zion Sisters' School loi

again. Why make such a row about this matter ? Didn't the
French themselves expel all their nuns and monks ? Why
shouldn't we do it ? "

After I had remonstrated over this indecent haste, Talaat told
Bedri to suspend the order until we had had a chance to talk the
matter over. Naturally this greatly reUeved Mere Elvira and
the Sisters. Just as we were about to leave, Bedri suddenly had
a new idea. There was one detail which he had apparently
forgotten.

" We'll leave the Sion Sisters alone for the present," he said,
" but we must get their money."

Reluctantly I acquiesced in his suggestion — knowing that all
the valuables were safely reposing in the American Embassy.
So I had the pleasure of standing by and watching Bedri and his
associates search the whole establishment. All they turned up
was a small tin box containing a few copper coins, a prize which
was so trifling that the Turks disdained to take it. They were
much puzzled and disappointed, and from that day to this they
have never known what became of the money. If my Turkish
friends do me the honour of reading these pages they will find
that I have explained here for the first time one of the many
mysteries of those exciting days.

As some of the windows of the convent opened on the court of
the Cathedral, which was Vatican property, we contended that
the Turkish Government could not seize it. Such of the Sisters
as were neutrals were allowed to remain in possession of the part
that faced the Vatican land, while the rest of the building was
turned into an engineers' school. We arranged that the French
nuns should have ten days to leave for their own country ; they
all reached their destination safely, and most are at present
engaged in charities and war-work in France.

My jocular statement that I intended to write a book deeply
impressed Bedri, and in the next few weeks he repeatedly
referred to it. I kept bantcringly telHng him that, unless his
behaviour improved, I should be forced to picture him as the
villain. One day he asked me, in all seriousness, whether he
could not do something that would justify me in portraying him
in a more favourable light. Tliis attitude gave me an oppor-
tunity I had been seeking for some time. Constantinople had for
many years been a centre for the white slave trade, and a par-
ticularly vicious gang was then operating under cover of a fake
synagogue. An international committee, organised to fight this
crew, had "made me chairman. I told Bedri that he now had the
chance to secure a reputation. Because of the war, his powers as

102 Secrets of the Bosphorus

Prefect of Police had been greatly increased, and a little vigorous
action on his part would permanently rid the city of this disgrace.
The enthusiasm with which Bedri adopted my suggestion and
the thoroughness and ability with which he did the work entitle
h.im'^toTthe gratitude of all decent people. In a few days every
white slave trader in Constantinople was scurrying for safety.
Most were arrested, a few made their escape ; such as were
foreigners, after serving terms in gaol, were expelled from the
country. Bedri furnished me with photographs of all the culprits,
and they are now on file in our State Department. I was not
writing a book at that time, but I felt obliged to secure some
public recognition for Bedri's work. I therefore sent his photo-
graph, with a few words about his achievement, to the New York
Times, which published it in a Sunday edition. That a great
American newspaper had recognised him in this way delighted
Bedri beyond words. For months he carried in his pocket the
page of the Times containing his picture, showing it to all his
friends. This event ended my troubles with the Prefect of Police ;
for the rest of my stay we had very few serious clashes.

CHAPTER XIV

WANGENHEDI AND THE BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY — A HOLY
WAR THAT WAS MADE IN GERMANY

All this time I was increasing my knowledge of the modern
German character, as illustrated in Wangenheim and his
associates. In the early days of the war the Germans showed
their most ingratiating side to Americans ; as time went on,
however, and it became apparent that pubhc opinion in the
United States almost unanimously supported the Allies, and that
the Washington Administration would not disregard the neu-
trality laws in order to promote Germany's interest, this friendly
attitude changed and became almost hostile.

The grievance to which the German Ambassador constantly
returned with tiresome iteration was the old familiar one — the
sale of American ammunition to the Allies. I hardly ever met
him that he did not speak about it. He was constantly asking
me to write to President Wilson, urging him to declare an
embargo. Of course, my contention that the commerce in
munitions was entirely legitimate made no impression. As the
struggle at the Dardanelles became more intense, Wangenheim's
insistence on the subject of American ammunition grew. He
asserted that most of the shells used at the Dardanelles had been
made in America and that the United States was really waging
war on Turkey.

One day, more angry than usual, he brought me a piece of
shell. On it clearly appeared the inscription, " B.S.Co."

" Look at that ! " he said. " I suppose you know what
' B.S.Co,' means ? That is the Bethlehem Steel Company ! This
will make the Turks furious. And remember that we are going
to hold the United States responsible for it. We are getting more
and more proof, and we are going to hold you to account for every
death caused by American shells. If you would only write home,
and make them stop selling ammunition to our enemies, the war
would be over very soon."

I made the usual defence, and called Wangenheim's attention
to the fact that Germany had sold munitions to Spain in the
Spanish War ; but all this was to no purpose. All that Wangen-
heim saw was that American supplies formed an asset to his

104 Secrets of the Bosphorus

enemy ; the legalities of the situation did not interest him. Of
course, I refused point-blank to write to the President about the
matter.

A few days afterward an article appeared in the Ikdam
discussing Turkish and American relations. This contribution,
for the greater part, was extremely compUmentary to America ;
its real purpose, however, was to contrast the present with the
past, and to point out that our action in furnishing ammunition
to Turkey's enemies was hardly in accordance with the historic
friendship between the two countries. The whole thing was
evidently written merely to get before the Turkish people a
statement almost parenthetically included in the final paragraph :
" According to the report of correspondents at the Dardanelles,
it appears that most of the shells fired by the British and French
during the last bombardment were made in America." At this
time the German Embassy controlled the Ikdam, and was
conducting it entirely in the interest of German propaganda. A
statement of this sort, instilled into the minds of impressionable
and fanatical Turks, might have the most deplorable con-
sequences. I therefore took the matter up immediately with
the man whom I regarded as chiefly responsible for the attack —
the German Ambassador.

At first Wangenheim asserted his innocence ; he was as bland
as a child in protesting his ignorance of the whole affair, I called
his attention to the fact that the statements in the Ikdam were
almost identically the same as those which he had made to me a
few days before ; that the language in certain spots, indeed, was
almost a repetition of his own conversation.

" Either you wrote that article yourself," I said, " or you
called in the reporter and gave him the leading ideas."

Wangenheim saw that there was no use in further denying
the authorship.

" Well," he said, throwing back his head, " what are you
going to do about it ? "

This Tweed-hke attitude rather nettledjtne, and I resented it
on the spot.

"I'll teU you what I am going to do about it," I repHed, " and
you know that I will be able to carry out my threats. Either you
stop stirring up anti-American feeling in Turkey or I shall start
a campaign of anti-German sentiment here.

" You know. Baron," I added, " that you Germans are
skating on very thin ice in this country. You know that the
Turks don't love you any too well. In fact, you know that
Americans are more popular here than you are. Supposing that

Wangenheim and the Bethlehem Steel Company 105

I go out, tell the Turks how you arc simply using them for your
own benefit — that you do not really regard them as your allies,
but merely as pawns in the game which you.,are playing. Now,
in stirring up anti- American feeling here you are touching my
softest spot. You are exposing our educational and religious
institutions to the attacks of the Turks. No one knows what
they may do if they are persuaded that their relatives are being
shot down by American bullets. You stop this at once, or in
tliree weeks I will fill the whole of Turkey with animosity toward
the Germans. It will be a battle between us, and I am ready
for it."

Wangenheim 's attitude changed at once. He turned round,
put his arm on my shoulder, and assumed his most conciliatory,
almost affectionate, manner.

" Come, let us be friends," he said. " I see that you are right
about this. I see that such attacks might injure your friends
the missionaries. I promise you that they will be stopped."

From that day the Turkish Press never made the slightest
unfriendly allusion to the United States. The abruptness with
which the attacks stopped showed me that the Germans had
evidently extended to Turkey one of the most cherished ex-
pedients of the Fatherland — absolute Government control of the
Press. But when I think of the infamous plots which Wangen-
heim was instigating at that moment, liis objection to the use of
a few American shells by EngHsh battleships— if EngUsh battle-
sliips used any such shells, which I seriously doubt — seems
almost grotesque. In the early days Wangenhsim had explained
to me one of Germany's main purposes in forcing Turkey into the
conflict. He made this explanation quietly and nonchalantly,
as though it had been quite the most ordinary matter in the
world. Sitting in his office, pufhng away at his big black German
cigar, he unfolded Germany's scheme to arouse the whole
fanatical Moslem world against the Christians. Germany had
planned a real " holy war " as one means of destroying English
and French influence in the world. " Turkey herself is not the
reaUy important matter," said Wangenheim. " Her army is a
small one, and we do not expect it to do very much. For the
most part it will act on the defensive. But the big thing is the
Moslem world. If we can stir the Mohammedans up against the
English and Russians we can force them to make peace."

What Wangenheim evidently meant by the " big thing "
became apparent on November 13th, when the Sultan issued his
declaration f war. This declaration was reaUy an appeal for a
Jihad, or a " Holy War " against the infidel. Soon afterward

io6 Secrets of the Bosphorus

the Sheik-ul-Islam published his proclamation, summoning the
whole Moslem world to arise and massacre their Cliristian
oppressors. " O Moslems ! " concluded this document, " Ye
who are smitten with happiness and are on the verge of sacrificing
your Ufe and your goods for the cause of right, and of braving
perils, gather now around the Imperial throne, obey the com-
mands of the Almighty, who, in the Koran, promises us bliss in
this and in the next world ; embrace ye the foot of the CaHph's
throne, and know ye that the State is at war with Russia, England,
France, and their allies, and that these are the enemies of Islam.
The Chief of the believers, the CaUph, invites you all as Moslems
to join in the Holy War ! "

The religious leaders read this proclamation to their as-
sembled congregations in the mosques ; all the newspapers
printed it conspicuously ; it was spread broadcast in all the
countries which had large Mohammedan populations — India,
China, Persia, Egypt, Algeria, Tripoh, Morocco, and the hke. In
all these places it was read to the assembled multitudes and the
populace was exhorted to obey the mandate. The Ikdam, the
Turkish newspaper which had passed into German ownership,
was constantly inciting the masses. " The deeds of our enemies,"
wrote this Turco-German editor, " have brought down the wrath
of God. A gleam of hope has appeared. All Mohammedans,
young and old, men, women, and children, must fulfil their duty
so that the gleam may not fade away, but give light to us forever.
How many great things can be accomplished by the arms of
vigorous men, by the aid of others, of women and children !
. . . The time for action has come. We shall all have to fight
with all our strength, with all our soul, with teeth and nails, with
all the sinews of our bodies and of our spirits. If we do it, the
deliverance of the subjected Mohammedan kingdoms is assured.
Then, if God so wills, we shall march unashamed by the side of
our friends who send their greetings to the Crescent. Allah is our
aid and the Prophet is our support."

The Sultan's proclamation was an official pubhc document,
and dealt with the proposed Holy War only in a general way, but
about this same time a secret pamphlet appeared which gave
instructions to the faithful in more specific terms. This paper
was not read in the mosques ; it was distributed stealthily in all
Mohammedan countries — India, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and
many others — and it was significantly printed in Arabic, the
language of the Koran. It was a lengthy document — the English
translation contains 10,000 words — full of quotations from the
Koran, and its style was frenzied in its appeal to racial and

Wangenheim and the Bethlehem Steel Company 107

religious hatred. It described a detailed^plan of operations for
the assassination and extermination of all Christians — except
those of German nationahty. A few extracts will fairly portray
its spirit : " Oh ! people of the faith and Oh ! beloved Moslems,
consider, even though but for a brief moment, the present condi-
tion of the Islamic world. For if you consider this but for a
little you will weep long. You will behold a bewildering state
of affairs which will cause the tear to fall and the fire of grief to
blaze. You see the great country of India, which contains
hundreds of milhons of Moslems, fallen, because of religious
divisions and weaknesses, into the grasp of the enemies of God,
the infidel EngUsh. You see forty millions of Moslems in Java
shackled by the chains of captivity and of affliction under the
rule of the Dutch, although these infidels are much fewer in
number than the faithful and do not enjoy a much higher
civihsation. You see Egypt, Morocco, Tunis, Algeria, and the
Sudan suffering the extremes of pain and groaning in the grasp
of the enemies of God and His apostle. You see the vast country
of Siberia and Turkestan, and Khiva and Bokhara, and the
Caucasus and the Crimea, and Kazan and Ezferhan and Kosa-
hastan, whose Moslem peoples believe in the unity of God, ground
under the feet of their oppressors, who are the enemies already of
our reUgion. You behold Persia being prepared for partition,
and you see the city of the CaUphate, which for ages has un-
ceasingly fought breast to breast with the enemies of our religion,
now become the target for oppression and violence. Thus,
wherever you look, you see that the enemies of the true reUgion,
particularly the Enghsh, the Russian, and the French, have
oppressed Islam and invaded its rights in every possible way.
We cannot enumerate the insults we have received at the hands
of these nations who desire totally to destroy Islam and drive all
Mohammedans off the face of the earth. This tyranny has
passed all endurable limits ; the cup of our oppression is fvill to
overflowing. ... In brief, the Moslems work and the infidels
eat, the Moslems are hungry and suffer and the infidels gorge
themselves and Hve in luxury. The world of Islam sinks down
and goes backward, and the Christian world goes forward and is
more and more exalted. The Moslems are enslaved and the
infidels are the great rulers. This is all because the Moslems have
abandoned the plan set forth in the Koran and ignored the Holy
War which it commands. . . . But the time has now come for
the Holy War, and by this the land of Islam shall be forever freed
from the power of the infidels who oppress it. This Holy War
has now become a sacred duty. Know ye that the blood of

io8 Secrets of the Bosphorus

infidels in the Islamic lands may be shed with impunity — except
those to whom the Moslem power has promised security and who
are allied with it. [Herein we find that Germans and Austrians
are excepted from massacre.] The killing of infidels who rule over
Islam has become a sacred duty, whether you do it secretly or
openly. As the Koran has decreed : ' Take them and kill them
whenever you find them. Behold we have delivered them unto
your hands and given you supreme power over them.' He who
kills even one unbeliever of those who rule over us, whether he
does it secretly or openly, shall be rewarded by God. And let
every Moslem, in whatever part of the world he may be, swear a
solemn oath to kill at least three or four of the infidels who rule
over him, for they are the enemies of God and of the faith. Let
every Moslem know that his reward for doing so shall be doubled
by the God who created heaven and earth. A Moslem who does
this shall be saved from the terrors of the Day of Judgment, of
the resurrection of the dead. Who is the man who can refuse such
a recompense for such a small deed ? . . . Yet the time has come
that we should rise up as the rising of one man ; in one hand a
sword, in the other a gun, in his pocket balls of fire and death-
deaHng missiles, and in his heart the light of the faith, and that
we should lift up our voices, saying — India for the Indian
Moslems, Java for the Javanese Moslems, Algeria for the Algerian
Moslems, Morocco for the Moroccan Moslems, Tunis for the
Tunisan Moslems, Egypt for the Egyptian Moslems, Iran for the
Iranian Moslems, Turan for the Turanian Moslems, Bokhara for
the Bokharan Moslems, Caucasus for the Caucasian Moslems, and
the Ottoman Empire for the Ottoman Turks and Arabs."

Specific instructions for carrjdng out this holy purpose
follow. There shall be a " heart war " — every follower of the
Prophet, that is, shall constantly nourish in his spirit a hatred of
the infidel ; a " speech war " — with tongue and pen every
Moslem shall spread this same hatred wherever Mohammedans
live'; and a war of deed — fighting and killing the infidel wherever
he shows his head. This latter conflict, says the pamphlet, is
the " true war." There is to be a " little holy war " and a
" great holy war " ; the first describes the battle which every
Mohammedan is to wage in his community against his Christian
neighbours, and the second is the great world-struggle' which
united Islam, in India, Arabia, Turkey, Africa, and other
countries, is to wage against the infidel oppressors. " The Holy
War," says the pamplilet, " will be of three forms. First the
individual war, which consists of the individual personal deed.
This may be carried on with cutting, killing instruments, like the

Wangenheim and the Bethlehem Steel Company 109

Holy War which one of the faithful made against Peter Galy, the
infidel Enghsh governor, like the slaying of the English chief of
police in India, and like the killing of one of the officials arriving
in Mecca by Abi Busir (may God be pleased with him)." The
document gives several other instances of assassination which the
faithful are enjoined to imitate. The believers are told to
organise " bands," and to go forth and slay Christians. The
most useful are those organised and operating in secret. " It is
hoped that the Islamic world of to-day will profit very greatly
from such secret bands." The third method is by " organised
campaigns," that is, by trained armies.

In all parts of this incentive to murder and assassination there
are indications that a German hand has exercised an editorial
supervision. Only those infidels are to be slain " who rule over
us " — that is, those who have Mohammedan subjects. As
Germany has no such subjects this saving clause was expected to
protect Germans from assault. The Germans, with their usual
interest in their own well-being and their usual disregard of their
ally, evidently overlooked the fact that Austria had many
Mohammedan subjects in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moslems
are instructed that they should form armies, " even though it
may be necessary to introduce some foreign elements " — that is,
bring in German instructors and German officers. " You must
remember " — this is evidently intended as a blanket protection
to Germans ever3rwhere — " that it is absolutely unlawful to
oppose any of the peoples of other religions between whom and
the Moslems there is a covenant, or those who have not mani-
fested hostiUty to the seat of the Caliphate, or those who have
entered under the protection of the Moslems."

Even though I had not had Wangenheim 's personal statement
that the Germans intended to arouse the Mohammedans every-
where against England, France, and Russia, these interpolations
would clearly enough have indicated the real inspiration of this
amazing document. At the time Wangenheim discussed the
matter with me his chief idea seemed to be that a " Holy War "
of this sort would be the quickest means of forcing England to
make peace. According to this point of view, it was really a
great peace offensive. At that time Wangenheim reflected the
conviction, which was prevalent in all official circles, that Ger-
many had made a mistake in bringing England into the conflict,
and it was evidently liis idea now that if back-fires could be
started against England in India, Egypt, the Sudan, and other
places, the British Empire would withdraw. Even if British
Mohammedans refused to rise, Wangenheim believed that the

no Secrets of the Bosphorus

mere threat of such an uprising would induce England to abandon
Belgium and France to their fate. The danger of spreading such
incendiary literature among a wildly fanatical people is apparent.
I was not the only neutral diplomat who feared the most serious
consequences. M. Tocheff, the Bulgarian Minister, one of the
ablest members of the diplomatic corps, was much disturbed.
At that time Bulgaria was neutral, and M. Tocheff used to tell me
that his country hoped to maintain this neutrality. Each side,
he said, expected that Bulgaria would become its ally, and it was
Bulgaria's policy to keep each side in this expectant frame of
mind. Should Germany succeed in starting a " Holy War," and
should massacres result, Bulgaria, added M. Tocheff, would
certainly join forces with the Entente.

We arranged that he should call upon Wangenheim and
repeat this statement, and that I should bring similar pressure to
bear upon Enver. From the first, however, the " Holy War "
proved a failure. The Mohammedans of such countries as India,
Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco knew that they were getting far
better treatment than they could obtain under any other con-
ceivable conditions. Moreover, the simple-minded Mohamme-
dans could not understand why they should prosecute a holy war
against Christians and at the same time have Christian nations,
such as Germany and Austria, as their partners. This association
made the whole proposition ridiculous. The Koran, it is true,
commands the slaughter of Christians, but that sacred volume
makes no exception in favour of the Germans, and, in the mind of
the fanatical Mohammedan, a German rayah is as much Christian
dirt as'an Englishman or a Frenchman, and his massacre is just as
meritorious an act. The fine distinctions necessitated by
European diplomacy he understands about as completely as he
understands the law of gravitation or the nebular hypothesis.
The German failure to take this into account is only another
evidence of the fundamental German clumsiness and real ignor-
ance of the world situation. The only tangible fact that stands
out clearly is the Kaiser's desire t^ let loose 300,000,000 Mo-
hammedans in a gigantic St. Bartholomew massacre of Christians.

Was there, then, no " Holy War " at all ? Did Wangenheim 's
" big thing " really fail ? Whenever I think of this burlesque
" Jihad " a particular scene in the American Embassy comes to
my mind. On one sidejof the table sits Enver, most peacefully
sipping tea and eating cakes, and on the other side is myself,
engaged in the same unwarlike occupation. It is November 14th,
the day after the Sultan has declared his Holy War ; there have
been meetings at the mosques and other places, at which the

Wangenheim and the Bethlehem Steel Company m

declaration has been read and fiery speeches made. Enver now
assures me that absolutely no harm will come to Americans ; in
fact, that there will be no massacres anyway. While he is
talking, one of my secretaries comes in and tells me that a little
mob is making demonstrations against certain foreign establish-
ments. It has assailed an Austrian shop which has unwisely
kept up its sign saying that it has " English clothes " for sale.
I ask Enver what this means ; he answers that it is all a mistake,
there is no intention of attacking anybody. A little while after
he leaves I am informed that the mob has attacked the Bon
Marche, a French dry-goods store, and is heading directly for the
British Embassy. I at once call Enver on the telephone ; it is
aU right, he says, nothing will happen to the Embassy. A
minute or two after, the mob immediately wheels about and
starts for Tokatlians, the most important restaurant in Con-
stantinople. The fact that this is conducted by an Armenian
makes it fair game. Six men who have poles, with hooks at the
end, break all the mirrors and windows, others take the marble
tops of the tables and smash them to bits. In a few minutes the
place has been completely gutted.

This demonstration comprised the " Holy War," so far as
Constantinople understood it. Such was the inglorious end of
Germany's attempt to arouse 300,000,000 Mohammedans against
the Christian world ! Only one definite result did the Kaiser
accomplish by spreading this inciting literature. It aroused in
the Mohammedan soul all that intense hatred of the Christian
which is the fundamental fact in his strange emotional nature,
and thus started passions aflame that afterward spent themselves
in the massacres of the Armenians and other subject peoples.

CHAPTER XV

DJEMAL, A TROUBLESOME MARK ANTONY — AN EARLY GERMAN
ATTEMPT TO GET A GERMAN PEACE

In early November, 19 14, the railroad station at Haidar Pasha
was the scene of a great demonstration. Djemal, the Minister
of Marine, one of the three men who were then most powerful in
the Turkish Empire, was leaving to take command of the Fourth
Turkish Army, which had its headquarters in Syria. All the
members of the Cabinet and other influential people in Con-
stantinople assembled to give this departing satrap an en-
thusiastic farewell. They hailed him as the " Saviour of Egypt,"
and Djemal himself, just before his train started, made this
pubhc declaration :

" I shall not return to Constantinople until I have conquered
Egypt ! "

The whole performance seemed to me to be somewhat
bombastic. Inevitably I called to mind the third member of
another bloody triumvirate who, nearly two thousand years
before, had left his native land to become the supreme dictator of
the East. And Djemal had many characteristics in common with
Mark Antony. Like his Roman predecessor, his private life was
profligate ; like Antony, he was an insatiate gambler, spending
much of his leisure over the card-table at the Cercle d'Orient.
Another trait which he had in common with the great Roman
orator was his enormous vanity. The Turkish world seemed to
be disintegrating in Djemal's time, just as the Roman Republic
was dissolving in the days of Antony. Djemal believed that he
might himself become the heir of one or more of its provinces and
possibly establish a dynasty. He expected that the military
expedition on which he was now starting would not only make him
the conqueror of Turkey's fairest province, but make him one of
the powerful figures of the world. Afterward, in Syria, he ruled
as independently as a medieval robber baron, whom in other
details he resembled ; he became a kind of sub-sultan, holding
his own court, having his own selamHk, issuing his orders, dis-
pensing freely his own kind of justice, and often disregarding the
authorities at Constantinople.

The applause^ with which Djemal's associates were speeding

Enver Pasha, ^linister of War.

'['•■h,-,) i>i^i.-. r:.-.M,i \ i/i,.,-

'Bustany Eifendi, ex-Minister of Commerce and
Agriculture in tlie Turkish Cabinet.

Djemal Pasha, Minister of Marine.

A Troublesome Mark Antony 113

his departure was not entirely disinterested. The fact was that
most of them were exceedingly glad to see him go. He had been
a thorn in the side of Talaat and Enver for some time, and they
were perfectly content that he should exercise his imperious and
stubborn nature against the Syrians, Armenians, and other non-
. Moslem elements in the Mediterranean provinces. Djemal was
not a popular man in Constantinople. The other members of the
triumvirate, in addition to their less desirable qualities, had
certain attractive traits — Talaat his rough virility and spon-
taneous good nature, Enver his courage and personal graciousness
— but there was little about Djemal that was pleasing. An
American physician who had specialised in the study of phy-
siognomy had found Djemal a fascinating subject. He told me
that he had never seen a face that so combined ferocity with great
power and penetration. Enver, as his history showed, could be
cruel and bloodthirsty, but he hid his more insidious qualities
under a face that was bland, unruffled, and even agreeable.
Djemal, however, did not disguise his tendencies, for his face
clearly pictured the inner soul. His eyes were black and pierc-
ing ; their sharpness, the rapidity and keenness with which they
darted from one object to another, taking in apparently every-
thing with a few lightning-like glances, signalised cunning,
remorselessness, and selfishness to an extreme degree. Even his
laugh, which disclosed all his white teeth, was unpleasant and
animal-like. His black hair and black beard, contrasting with
his pale face, only heightened this impression. At first, Djemal's
figure seemed somewhat insignificant — he was undersized,
almost stumpy, and somewhat stoop-shouldered ; as soon as he
began to move, however, it was evident that his body was full of
energy. Whenever he shook your hand, gripping you with a
vice-Uke grasp and looking at you with those roving, penetrating
eyes, the man's personal force became impressive.

Yet, after a momentary meeting, I was not surprisedto hear
that Djemal was a man with whom assassination and judicial
murder were all part of the day's work. Like all the Young
Turks, his origin had been extremely humble. He had joined
the Committee of Union and Progress in the early days, and his
personal power, as well as his relentlessness, had rapidly made
him one of the leaders. After the murder of Nazim, Djemal had
become Military Governor of Constantinople, his chief duty in
this post being to remove from the scene the opponents of the
ruling powers. This congenial task he performed with great
skill, and the reign of terror that resulted was largely Djemal's
handiwork. Subsequently Djemal became Minister of Marine,
I I

114 Secrets of the Bosphorus

but he could not work harmoniously in the Cabinet ; he was
always a troublesome partner. In the days preceding the break
with the Entente he was popularly regarded as a Francophile.
Whatever feeling Djemal may have entertained toward the
Entente, he made little attempt to conceal his detestation of the
Germans. It is said that he would swear at them in their presence
— ^in Turkish, of course — and he was one of the few important
Turkish officials who never came under their influence. The
fact was that Djemal represented that tendency which was
rapidly gaining the ascendancy in Turkish policy — Pan-Turkism.
He despised the subject peoples of the Ottoman country — ^Arabs,
Greeks, Armenians, Circassians, Jews ; his ambition was to
Turkify the whole Empire. His personal ambition brought him
into frequent conflict with Enver and Talaat ; they told me many
times that they could not control him. It was for this reason
that, as I have said, they were glad to see him go — not that they
really expected him to capture the Suez Canal and drive out the
English. Incidentally this appointment fairly indicated the
incongruous organisation that then existed in Turkey. As
Minister of Marine, Djemal's real place was at the navy depart-
ment ; instead of that, the head of the navy was sent to lead an
army over the burning sands of Syria and Sinai.

Yet DjemaFs expedition represented Turkey's most spec-
tacular attempt to assert its military power against the Allies.
As Djemal moved out of the station, the whole Turkish populace
felt that an historic moment had arrived. Turkey in less than a
century had lost the greater part of her dominions, and nothing
had more pained the national pride than the English occupation
of Egypt. All during this occupation, Turkish suzerainty had
been recognised ; as soon as Turkey declared war on Great
Britain, however, the British had ended this fiction and had
formally taken over this great province. Djemal's expedition
was Turkey's reply to this act of England. The real purpose of
the war, the Turkish people had been told, was to restore the
vanishing empire of the Osmans, and to this great undertaking
the recovery of Egypt was merely the first step. The Turks also
knew that, under English administration, Egypt had become a
prosperous covmtry, and that it would, therefore, yield great
treasure to the conqueror. It is no wonder that the huzzahs of
the Turkish people followed the departing Djemal.

About the same time, Enver left to take command of Turkey's
other great military enterprise — the attack on Russia through the
Caucasus. Here also were Turkish provinces to be " redeemed."
After the war of 1878, Turkey had been compelled to cede to

A Troublesome Mark Antony 115

Russia certain rich territories between the Caspian and the Black
Sea, inhabited chiefly by Armenians, and it was this country
which Enver now proposed to reconquer. But Enver had no
ovation on his leaving. He went away quietly and unobserved.
With the departure of these two men the war was now fairly on.

Despite these martial enterprises, other than warhke prepara-
tions were now under way in Constantinople. At that time —
in the latter part of 1914 — its external characteristics suggested
nothing but war, yet now it suddenly became the great head-
quarters of peace. The English fleet was constantly threatening
the Dardanelles, and every day Turkish troops were passing
through the streets. Yet these activities did not chiefly engage
the attention of the German Embassy. Wangenheim was
thinking of one thing, and one thing only ; this fire-eating German
suddenly became a man of peace. For he now learned that the
greatest service which a German Ambassador could render his
Emperor would be to end the war on terms that would save
Germany from exhaustion, and even from ruin ; to obtain a
settlement that would reintroduce his Fatherland to the society
of nations.

In November Wangenheim began discussing this subject. It
was part of Germany's system, he told me, not only to be com-
pletely prepared for war, but also for peace. " A wise general,
when he begins his campaign, always has at hand his plans for a
retreat, in case he is defeated," said the German Ambassador.
" This principle applies just the same to a nation beginning war.
There is only one certainty about war — and that is that it must
end some time. So, when we plan war, we must consider also a
campaign for peace."

But Wangenheim was interested then in something more
tangible than this philosophic principle. Germany had im-
mediate reasons for desiring the end of hostilities, and Wangen-
heim discussed them frankly and cynically. He said that
Germany had prepared for only a short war because she had
expected to crush France and Russia in two brief campaigns,
lasting not longer than six months. Clearly this plan had failed,
and there was little hkeUhood that Germany would win the war.
Wangenheim told me this in so many words. Gennany, he added,
would make a great mistake if she persisted in fighting the war to
exhaustion, for such a fight would mean the permanent loss of
her colonies, her mercantile marine, and her whole economic and ^
commercial status. " If we don't get Paris in thirty days, we
are beaten," Wangenheim had told me in August, and, though his
attitude changed somewhat after the battle of the Marne, he made

ii6 Secrets of the Bosphorus

no attempt to conceal the fact that the great rush campaign had
collapsed, that all the Germans could now look forward to was a
tedious, exhausting war, and that all which they could obtain
from the existing situation would be a drawn battle. " We have
made a mistake this time," Wangenheim said, " in not laying in
supphes for a protracted struggle ; it was an error, however, that
we shall not repeat ; next time we shall store up enough copper
and cotton to last for five years."

Wangenheim had another reason for wishing an immediate
peace, and it was a reason which shed much light upon the
shamelessness of German diplomacy. The preparation which
Turkey was making for the conquest of Egypt caused this
German Ambassador much annoyance and anxiety. The
interest and energy which the Turks had manifested in tliis
enterprise were particularly causing him concern. Naturally I
thought at first that Wangenheim was worried that Turkey
would lose, yet he confided to me that his real fear was that
their ally would succeed. A victorious Turkish campaign in
Egypt, Wangenheim explained, might seriously interfere with
Germany's plans. Should Turkey conquer Egypt, naturally
Turkey would insist at the peace table on retaining this great
province, and would expect Germany to support her in this claim.
But Germany had no intention then of promoting the re-
estabhshment of the Turkish Empire. At that time she hoped to
reach an understanding with England, the basis of which was to
be something in the nature of a division of interests in the East.
Germany desired above all te obtain Mesopotamia as an in-
dispensable part of her Hamburg-Bagdad scheme. In return for
this, she was prepared to give her endorsement to England's
annexation of Egypt. Thus it was Germany's plan at that time
that she and England should divide Turkey's two fairest do-
minions. This was one of the proposals which Germany intended
to bring forth in the peace conference which Wangenheim was
now scheming for, and clearly Turkey's conquest of Egypt would
have presented comphcations in the way of carrjdng out this
plan. On the morahty of Germany's attitude to her ally,
Turkey, it is hardly necessary to comment. The whole thing was
all of a piece with Germany's pohcy of " reahsm " in foreign
relations.

Nearly all German classes, in the latter part of 19 14 and the
early part of 1915, were anxiously looking for peace, and they
turned to Constantinople as the most promising spot where
peace negotiations might most favourably be started. The
Germans took it for granted that President Wilson would be the

1-S

a

'Jl

ip-i ^

J!5

'3
o

"^

Bedri Bey, Prefect of Police at Constantinople.

Ti.lai.t and von Kuhlmaiin.

A Troublesome Mark Antony 117

peacemaker ; indeed, they never for a moment thought of anyone
else in this capacity. The only point that remained for con-
sideration was the best way to approach the President. Such
negotiations would most hkely be conducted through one of the
American Ambassadors in Europe. Obviously Germany had no
means of access to the A merican Ambassadors in the great enemy
capitals, and other circumstances induced them to turn to the
American Ambassador in Turkey.

At this time a German diplomat appeared in Constantinople
who has figured much in recent history — Dr. Richard von
Kiihlmann, at present Minister for Foreign Affairs. In the last
five years Dr. von Kiihlmann has seemed to appear in that
particular part of the world where important confidential
diplomatic negotiations are being conducted by the German
Empire. Prince Lichnowsky has recently described his activities
in London in 1913 and 1914, and he has figured even more
conspicuously in the recent peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Soon
after the war started, Dr. von Kiihlmann came to Constantinople
as Conseiller of the German Embassy, succeeding von Mutius,
who had been called to the Colours. For one reason his appoint-
ment was appropriate, for Kiihlmann had been born in Con-
stantinople, and had spent his early life there, his father having
been president of the Anatolian railway. He therefore under-
i stood the Turks as only a man can who has lived with them for
' many years. Personally he proved to be an interesting addition
to the diplomatic colony. He impressed me as not a particularly
i aggressive, but a very entertaining, man ; he apparently wished
to become friendly with the American Embassy, and he possessed
a certain attraction for us all, as he had just come from the
trenches and gave us many vivid pictures of life at the front. At
that time we were all keenly interested in modem warfare, and
Kiihlmann 's details of trench fighting held us spellbound many
an afternoon and evening. His other favourite topic of conversa-
tion was Welt-Politik, and on all foreign matters he struck me as
remarkably well-informed. At that time we did not regard von
Kiihlmann as an important man, yet the industry with which he
attended to his business arrested everyone's attention even then.
Soon, however, I began to have a feeling that he was exerting a
powerful influence in a quiet, velvety kind of way. He said
little, but I reaUsed that he was listening to everything and
storing all kinds of information away in his mind. He was
apparently Wangenheim's closest confidant, and the man upon
whom the Ambassador was depending for his contact with the
German Foreign Office. About the middle of December Von

ttS Secrets of the Bosphonis

Kiihlmann left for Berlin, where he stayed about two weeks. On
his return, in the early part of January, 1915, there was a notice-
able change in the atmosphere of the German Embassy. Up to
that time Wangenheim had discussed peace negotiations more or
less informally, but now he took up the matter specifically. I
gathered that Kiihlmann had been called to Berlin to receive all
the latest details on this subject, and that he had come back with
the definite instructions that Wangenheim should move at once.
In all my talks with the German Ambassador on peace Kiihlmann
was always hovering in the background ; at one most important
conference he was present, though he participated hardly at all
in the conversation, but his role, as usual, was that of a sub-
ordinate and quietly eager listener.

Wangenheim now informed me that January, 1915, would
be an excellent time to end the war. Italy had not yet entered,
though there was every reason to believe that she would do so by
spring. Bulgaria and Rumania were still holding aloof, though
no one expected that their waiting attitude would last for ever.
France and England were preparing for the first of the " spring
offensives," and the Germans had no assurance that it would not
succeed ; indeed, they much feared that the German armies
would meet disaster. The British and French warships were
gathering at the Dardanelles, and the German General Staff
and practically all military and naval experts in Constantinople
believed that the Allied fleets could force their way through and
capture the city. Most Turks by this time were sick of the war,
and Germany always had in mind that Turkey would make a
separate peace. Afterward I discovered that whenever the
military situation looked ominous to Germany she was always
thinking about peace, but that if the situation improved she
would immediately become warlike again ; it was a case of sick-
devil, weU-devil. Yet, badly as Wangenheim wanted peace in
January, 1915, it was quite apparent that he was not thinking of
a permanent peace. The greatest obstacle to peace at that time
was the fact that Germany showed no signs that she regretted
her crimes, and there was not the slightest evidence of the
sackcloth in Wangenheim 's attitude now. Germany had made a
bad guess, that was all. What Wangenheim and the other
Germans saw in the situation was that their stock of wheat,
cotton, and copper was inadequate for a protracted struggle. In
my notes of my conversations with Wangenheim I find him
frequently using such phrases as the " next war," " next time,"
and, in confidently looking forward to another greater world
cataclysm than the present, he merely reflected the attitude of

A Troublesome Mark Antony 119

the dominant junker-military class. The Germans apparently
wanted a reconciliation — a kind of an armistice — that would give
their generals and industrial leaders time to prepare for the next
conflict. At that time, nearly four years ago, Germany was
moving for practically the same kind of peace negotiations which
she has suggested many times since and is suggesting now.
Wangenheim's plan was that representatives of the warring
Powers should gather around a table and settle things on the
principle of " give and take." He said that there was no sense
in demanding that each side state its terms in advance.

" For both sides to state their terms in advance would ruin
the whole thing," he said. " What would we do ? Germany, of
course, would make claims that the other side would regard as
ridiculously extravagant. The Entente would state terms that
would put all Germany in a rage. As a result, both sides would
get so angry that there would be no conference. No — if we really
want to end this war we must have an armistice. Once we stop
fighting, we shall not go at it again. History presents no instance
in a great war where an armistice has not resulted in peace. It
will be so in tliis case."

Yet, from Wangenheim's conversation I did obtain a shght
inkling of Germany's terms. The matter of Egypt and Meso-
potamia, set forth above, was one of them. Wangenheim was
quite insistent that Germany must have permanent naval bases
in Belgium with which her navy could at all times threaten
England with blockade, and so make sure " the freedom of the
seas." Germany wanted coaling rights everywhere ; this demand
looks absurd, because Germany has always possessed such rights
in peace times. She might give France a piece of Lorraine and
a part of Belgium — perhaps Brussels — in return for the payment
of an indemnity.

Wangenheim requested that I should place Germany's case
before the American Government. My letter to Washington is
dated January, 1915. It went fully into the internal situation
which then prevailed and gave the reasons why Germany and
Turkey desired peace.

A particularly interesting part of this incident was that
Germany was apparently ignoring Austria. Pallavicini, the
Austrian Ambassador, knew nothing of the pending negotiations
until I myself informed him of them. In thus ignoring his ally,
the German Ambassador meant no personal disrespect ; ; he was
merely treating him precisely as his Foreign Office was treating
Vienna — not as an equal, but practically as a retainer. The
world is familiar enough with Germany's military and diplomatic

120 Secrets of the Bosphorus

absorption of Austria-Hungary. But that Wangenheim should
have made so important amove as to attempt peace negotiations,
and have left it to Pallavicini to learn about it through a third
party, shows that, as far back as January, 1915, the Austro-
Hungarian Empire had ceased to be an independent nation.

Nothing came of this proposal, of course. Our Government
decHned to take action, evidently not regarding the time as
opportune. Both Germany and Turkey, as I shall tell, recurred
to this subject afterward. This particular negotiation ended in
the latter part of March, when Kiihlmann left Constantinople to
become Minister at The Hague. He came and paid his farewell
call at^the American Embassy, as chaiTning, as entertaining, and
as debonair as ever. His last words, as he shook my hand and
left the building, were — subsequent events have naturally caused
me^to remember them :

" We shall have peace within three months, Excellency ! "
This little scene took place and this happy forecast was made
in March, 1915 !

CHAPTER XVI

THE TURKS PREPARE TO FLEE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE AND

ESTABLISH A NEW CAPITAL IN ASIA MINOR — THE ALLIED FLEET

BOMBARDING THE DARDANELLES

Probably one thing that stimulated this German desire for
peace was the situation at the Dardanelles. In esLvly January,
when Wangenheim persuaded me to write my letter to Washing-
ton, Constantinople was in a state of the utmost excitement. It
was reported that the Allies had assembled a fleet of forty war-
ships at the mouth of the Dardanelles and that they intended to
attempt the forcing of the strait. What made the situation
particularly tense was the belief, which then generally prevailed
in Constantinople, that such an attempt would succeed. Wangen-
heim shared this belief, and so, in a modified form, did von der
Goltz, who probably knew as much about the Dardanelles
defences as any other man, as he had for years been Turkey's
military instructor. I find in my diary von der Goltz's precise
opinion on this point as reported to me by Wangenheim, and I
quote it exactly as written at that time : " Although he thought
it was almost impossible to force the Dardanelles, still, if England
thought it an important move of the general war, they could, by
sacrificing ten ships, force the entrance, and do it very fast, and
be up in the Marmora within ten hours from the time they
forced it."

The very day that Wangenheim gave me this expert opinion
of von der Goltz, he asked me to store several cases of his valu-
ables in the American Embassy. Evidently he was making
preparations for his own departure.

Reading the Cromer Report on the Dardanelles bombard-
ment, I find that Admiral Sir John Fisher, then First Sea Lord,
placed the price of success at twelve ships. Evidently von der
(roltz and Fisher did not differ materially in their estimates.

The situation of Turkey, when these first rumours of an Allied

bombardment reached us, was fairly desperate. On all hands

there were evidences of the fear and panic that had seized not

only the populace, but the official classes. Calamities from all

i^ides were apparently closing in on the country. Up to January i,

122 Secrets of the Bosphorus

1915, Turkey had done nothing to justify her participation in
the war ; on the contrary, she had met defeat practically every-
where. Djemal, as already recorded, had left Constantinople as
the prospective " Conqueror of Egypt," but his expedition had
proved to be a bloody and humiliating failure. Enver's attempt
to redeem the Caucasus from Russian rule had resulted in an even
more frightful military disaster. He had ignored the advice of
the Germans, which was to let the Russians advance to Sivas and
make his stand there, and, instead, he had boldly attempted to
gain Russian territory in the Caucasus. This army had been
defeated at every point, but the miUtary reverses did not end its
sufferings. The Turks had a most inadequate medical or sanitary
service ; typhus and dysentery broke out in all the camps, the
deaths from these diseases reaching 100,000 men. Dreadful
stories were constantly coming in telling of the sufferings of these
soldiers. That England was preparing an invasion of Mesopo-
tamia was well known, and no one at that time had any reason to
beHeve that it would not succeed. Every day the Turks expected
the news that the Bulgarians had declared war and were marching
on Constantinople, and they knew that such an attack would
necessarily bring in Rumania and Greece. It was no diplomatic
secret that Italy was waiting only for the arrival of warm weather
to join the Allies. At this moment the Russian fleet was bom-
barding Trebizond, on the Black Sea, and was daily expected at
the entrance to the Bosphorus. Meanwhile the domestic situa-
tion was deplorable ; all over Turkey thousands of the populace
were daily dying of starvation ; practically all able-bodied men
had been taken into the army, so that only a few were left to till
the fields ; the criminal requisitions had almost destroyed all
business ; the Treasury was in a more exhausted state than
normally, for the closing of the Dardanelles and the blockading
of the Mediterranean ports had stopped all imports and customs
dues ; and the increasing wrath of the people seemed Hkely any
day to break out against Talaat and his associates. And now,
surrounded by increasing troubles on every hand, the Turks
learned that this mighty armada of England and her allies was
approaching, determined to destroy the defences and capture the
city. At that time there was no force which the Turks feared so
greatly as they feared the British fleet. Its tradition of several
centuries of uninterrupted victories had completely seized their
imagination. It seemed to them superhuman — the^one over-
whelming power which it was hopeless to contest. ,, w.'

Wangenheim and also nearly all of the German military and
naval forces not only regarded the forcing^of the Dardanelles as

The Turks Prepare to Flee from Constantinople 123

possible, but they believed it to be inevitable. The possibility of
British success was one of the most familiar topics of discussion,
and the weight of opinion, both lay and professional, inclined in
favour of the Allied fleets. Talaat told me that an attempt to
force the strait would succeed — it only depended on England's
willingness to sacrifice a few ships. The real reason why Turkey
had sent a force against Egypt, Talaat added, was to divert
England from making an attack on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The
state of mind that existed is shown by the fact that on January
ist the Turkish Government had made preparations for two
trains, one of which was to take the Sultan and his suite to Asia
Minor, while the other was intended for Wangenheim, Pallavicini,
and the rest of the diplomatic corps. On January 2nd I had an
illuminating talk with Pallavicini. He showed me a certificate
given him by Bedri, the Prefect of Police, passing him and his
secretaries and servants on one of these emergency trains. He
also had seat tickets for himself and all of his suite. He said that
each train would have only three cars, so that it could make great
speed ; he had been told to have everything ready to start at an
hour's notice. Wangenheim made little attempt to conceal his
apprehensions. He told me that he had made all preparations
to send his wife to Berhn, and he invited Mrs. Morgenthau to
accompaoiy her, so that she, too, could be removed from the
danger zone. Wangenheim showed the fear, which was then
the prevailing one, that a successful bombardment would lead
to fires and massacres in Constantinople, as well as in the rest of
Turkey. In anticipation of such disturbances he made a
characteristic suggestion. Should the fleet pass the Dardanelles,
he said, the hfe of no Englishman in Turkey would be safe — they
would all be massacred. As it was so difficult to tell an English-
man from an American, he proposed that I should give the
Americans a distinctive button to wear, which would protect
them from Turkish violence. As I was convinced that Wangen-
heim 's real purpose was to arrange some sure means of identifying
the English, and of so subjecting them to Turkish ill-treatment,
I refused to act on this amiable suggestion.

Another incident illustrates the nervous tension which
prevailed in those January days. As I noticed that some shutters
at the British Embassy were open, Mrs. Morgenthau and I went
up to investigate. In the early days we had sealed this building,
which had been left in my charge, and this was the':'first time we
had broken the seals to enter. About two hours after we re-
turned from this tour of inspection, Wangenheim came into my
ofiice in one of liis now famihar agitated moods. It had been

124 Secrets of the Bosphorus

reported, he said, that Mrs. Morgenthau and I had been up to the
Embassy getting it ready for the British Admiral, who'^expectec}
soon to take possession ! j }

All this seems a Uttle absurd now, for, in fact, the Allied fleets
made no attack at that time. At the very moment when the
whole of Constantinople was feverishly awaiting the British
dreadnoughts, the British Cabinet in London was merely con
sidering the advisability of such an enterprise. The record shows
that Petrograd, on January 2nd, telegraphed the British Govern
ment, asking that some kind of a demonstration be made against
the Turks, who were pressing the Russians in the Caucasus
Though an encouraging reply was immediately sent to this
request, it was not until January 28th that the British Cabinet
definitely issued orders for an attack on the Dardanelles. It is
no longer a secret that there was no unanimous confidence in the
success 'of such an undertaking. Admiral Carden recorded his
beUef that the strait " could not be rushed, but that extended
operations with a large number of ships might succeed." The
penalty of failure, he added, would be the great loss that England
would suffer in prestige and influence in the East ; how true this
prophecy proved I shall have occasion to show. Up to this time
one of the fundamental and generally accepted axioms of naval •
operations had been that warships should not attempt to attack
fixed land fortifications. But the Germans had demonstrated
the power of mobile guns against fortresses in their destruction of
the emplacements at Liege and Namur, and there was a belief in
some quarters in England that these events had modified this
naval principle. Mr. Churchill, at that time at the head of the
Admiralty, placed great confidence in the destructive power of a
new superdreadnought which had just been finished — the Qiieen
Elizabeth — and which was then on its way to join the Mediter-
ranean fleet.

We in Constantinople knew nothing about these deHberations
then, but the result became apparent in the latter part of Febru-
ary. On the afternoon of the 19th, Pallavicini, the Austrian
Ambassador, came to me with important news. The Marquis
was a man of great personal dignity, yet it was apparent that he
was this day exceedingly nervous, and, indeed, he made no
attempt to conceal his apprehension. The AlHed fleets, he said,
had reopened their attack on the Dardanelles, and this time their
bombardment had been extremely ferocious. At that time things
were going badly for the Austrians : the Russian armies were.j
advancing victoriously ; Serbia had hurled the Austrians over j
the frontier, and the European Press was filled with prognostica

The Turks Prepare to Flee from Constantinople 125

tions of the break-up of the Austrian Empire. Pallavicini's
attitude this afternoon was a perfect reflection of the dangers
I hat were then encompassing his countr3\ He was a sensitive and
pi oud man — proud of his Emperor and proud of what he regarded
as the great Austro-Hungarian Empire — and he now appeared to
be overburdened by the fear that this extensive Hapsburg fabric,
which had withstood the assaults of so many centuries, was
rapidly being overwhelmed with ruin. Like most human beings,
I'allavicini yearned for sympathy ; he could obtain none from
W'angenheim, who seldom took him into his confidence and
consistently treated him as the representative of a nation that
was compelled to submit to the overlordship of Germany. Per-,
haps that was the reason whj^ the Austrian Ambassador used to
pi'iur out his heart to me. And now tliis AUied bombardment of
the Dardanelles came as the culmination of all his troubles. At
this time the Central Powers beUeved that they had Russia
bottled up ; that, because they had sealed the Dardanelles, she
could neither get her wheat to market nor import the munitions
needed for carrying on the war. Germany and Austria thus had
a strangle-hold on their gigantic foe, and, if this condition could
be maintained indefinitely, the collapse of Russia would be
inevitable. At present, it is true, the Czar's forces were making
a victorious campaign, and this in itself was sufficiently alarming
to Austria ; but their present supplies of war materials would
ultimately be exhausted, and then their great superiority in men
would help them httle, and they would inevitably go to pieces.
But should Russia get Constantinople, with the control of the
Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, she could obtain all the muni-
tions needed for warfare on the largest scale, and the defeat of
the Central Powers might immediately follow, and such a
defeat, Pallavicini well understood, would be far more serious for
Austria than for Germany. Wangenheim had told me that it
was Germany's plan, in case the Austro-Hungarian Empire dis-
integrated, to incorporate her 12,000,000 Germans in the Hohen-
zollern domain, and Pallavicini, of course, was famihar with this
danger. The Alhed attack on the Dardanelles ■ thus meant to
Pallavicini the extinction of his country, for if we are properly to
understand his state of mind we must remember that he firmly
beUeved, as did almost all the other important men in Con-
stantinople, that such an attack would succeed.

Wangenheim's existence was made miserable by this same
haunting conviction. As I have already shown, the bottUng-up
jf Russia was almost exclusively the German Ambassador's
performance. He had brought the Goeben and the Breslau into

126 Secrets of the Bosphorus

Constantinople, and by this manoeuvre had precipitated Turkey
into the war. The forcing of the strait would mean more than
the transformation of Russia into a permanent and powerful
participant in the war ; it meant — and this was by no means an
unimportant consideration with Wangenheim — the undoing of
his great personal achievement. Yet Wangenheim showed his
apprehensions quite differently from Pallavicini. In true
German fashion, he resorted to threats and bravado. He gave
no external signs of depression, but his whole body tingled with
rage. He was not deploring his fate ; he was looking for ways
of striking back. He would sit in my office, smoking with his
usual energy, and tell me all the terrible things which he proposed
to do to his enemy. The thing that particularly preyed upon
Wangenheim 's mind was the exposed position of the German
Embassy. It stood on a high hill, one of the most conspicuous
buildings in the town, a perfect target for an enterprising English
admiral. Almost the first object the British fleet would sight, as
it entered the Bosphorus, would be this yellow monument of the
Hohenzollerns, and the temptation to shell it might prove
irresistible.

" Let them dare destroy that Embassy ! " Wangenheim said.
" I'U get even with them ! If they fire a single shot at it we'll
blow up the French and the English Embassies ! Go tell the
Admiral that, won't you ? Tell him also that we have the
dynamite ready to do it ! "

Wangenheim also showed great anxiety over the proposed
removal of the Government to Eski-Shehr. In early January,
when everyone was expecting the arrival of the Allied fleet,
preparations had been made for moving the Government to Asia
Minor ; and now again, at the first rumbling of the British and
French guns, the special trains were prepared once more. Wan-
genheim and Pallavicini both told me of their unwillingness to
accompany the Sultan and the Government to Asia Minor.
Should the AlUes capture Constantinople, the Ambassadors of the ,
Central Powers would find themselves cut off from their home
countries and completely in the hands of the Turks. " The
Turks could then hold us as hostages," said Wangenheim. They
urged Talaat to establish the emergency Government at Adrian-
ople, from which town they could motor in and out of Con-
stantinople, and then, in case the city were captured, they could
make their escape home. The Turks, on the other hand, refused
to adopt this suggestion because they feared an attack from
Bulgaria. Wangenheim and Pallavicini now found themselves
between two fires. If they stayed in Constantinople they would

The Turks Prepare to Flee from Constantinople 127

naturally become prisoners of the English and French ; on the
other hand, if they went to Eski-Shelir, it was not unlikely that
they would become prisoners of the Turks. Many evidences of
the flimsy basis on which rested the German and Turkish alliance
had come to my attention, but this was about the most illuminat-
ing. Wangenheim knew, as did everybody else, that, in case the
French and English captured Constantinople, the Turks would
vent their rage not mainly against the Entente, but against the
Germans who had enticed them into the war.

It all seems so strange now, this conviction that was upper-
most in the minds of everybody then — that the success of the
Allied fleets against the Dardanelles was inevitable and that the
capture of Constantinople was a matter of only a few days. I
recall an animated discussion that took place at the American
Embassy on the afternoon of February 24th. The occasion was
Mrs. Morgenthau's weekly reception— meetings which furnished
almost the only opportunity in those days for the foregathering
of the diplomats. Practically all were on hand this afternoon.
The first great bombardment of the Dardanelles had taken place
five days before ; this had practically destroyed the fortifications
at the mouth of the strait. There was naturally only one
subject of discussion : Would the Allied fleets get through ?
What would happen if they did ? Everybody expressed an
opinion, W^angenheim, Pallavicini, Garroni, the Itahan Am-
bassador, D'Anckarsvard, the Swedish Minister, Koloucheff, the
Bulgarian Minister, Kiihlmann, and Scharfenberg, First Secre-
tary of the German Embassy, and it was the unanimous opinion
that the Allied attack would succeed. I particularly remember
Kiihlmann's attitude. He discussed the capture of Constan-
tinople almost as though it was something which had taken place
already. The Persian Ambassador showed great anxiety ; his
Embassy stood not far from the Sublime Porte, He told me that
he feared that the latter building would be bombarded and that
1 few stray shots might easily set afire his own residence, and he
isked if he might move his archives to the American Embassy,
rhe wildest rumours were afloat ; we were told that the Standard
Dil agent at the Dardanelles had counted seventeen transports
loaded with troops, that the warships had already fired 800 shots
md had levelled all the hills at the entrance, and that Talaat's
bodyguard had been shot — the implication being that the bullet
had missed its intended victim. It was said that the whole
Furkish populace was aflame with the fear that the EngUsh and
the French, when they reached the city, would celebrate the
jvent by a wholesale attack on Turkish women. The latter

I2S Secrets of the Bosphorus %

reports were, of course, absurd ; they were merely characteristic
rumours set afloat by the Germans and their Turkish associates.
The fact is that the great mass of the people in Constantinople
were probably praying that the Allied attack would succeed, and
so release them from the control of the political gang that then
ruled the country.

And in all this excitement there was one lonely and despon-
dent figure — this was Talaat. Whenever I saw him in those
critical days, he was the picture of desolation and defeat. The
Turks, hke most primitive peoples, wear their emotions on the
surface, and with them the transition from exultation to despair
is a short one. The thunder of the British guns at the strait
apparently spelled doom to Talaat. The letter-carrier of
Adrianople seemed to have reached the end of his career. He
again confided to me his expectation that the English would
capture the Turkish capital, and once more he said that he was
sorry that Turkey had entered the war. Talaat well knew what
would happen as soon as the Allied fleet entered the Sea of
Marmora. According to the report of the Cromer Commission,
Lord Kitchener, in giving his assent to a purely naval expedition,
had rehed upon a revolution in Turkey to make the enterprise
successful. Lord Kitchener has been much criticised for his
part in the Dardanelles attack ; I owe it to his memory, however,
to say that on this point he was absolutely right. Had the Allied
fleets once passed the defences at the strait, the administration
of the Young Turks would have come to a bloody end. As soon
as the guns began to fire, placards appeared on the hoardings
denouncing Talaat and his associates as responsible for all the
woes that had come to Turkey. Bedri, the Prefect of PoHce, was
busy collecting all the unemployed young men and sending them
out of the city ; his purpose was to free Constantinople of all who
might start a revolution against the Young Turks. It was a
common report that Bedri feared this revolution much more than
he feared the British fleet. And this was the same Nemesis that
was every moment now pursuing Talaat.

A single episode illustrates the nervous excitement that
prevailed. Dr. Lederer, the correspondent of the Berliner
Tageblatt, made a short visit to the Dardanelles, and, on his
return, reported to certain ladies of the diplomatic circle that the
German officers had told him that they were wearing their
shrouds, as they expected any minute to be buried there. This
statement went around the city like wildfire, and Dr. Lederer was
threatened with arrest for making it. He appealed to me for
help ; I took him to Wangenheim, who refused to have anything

to do with him. Lederer, he said, was an Austrian subject,
although he represented a German newspaper. His anger at
Lederer for this indiscretion was extreme. But I finally succeeded
in getting the unpopular joumaHst into the Austrian Embassy,
where he was harboured for the night. In a few days Lederer
had to leave town.

In the midst of all this excitement there was one person who
was apparently not at all disturbed. Though • ambassadors,
generals, and poHticians might anticipate the worst calamities,
Enver's voice was reassuring and quiet. The man's coolness
and really courageous spirit never shone to better advantage.
In late December and January, when the city had its first fright
over the bombardment, Enver was fighting the Russians in the
Caucasus. His experiences in this campaign, as already described,
had been far from glorious. Enver had left Constantinople in
November to join his army an expectant conqueror ; he returned
in the latter part of January, the commander of a thoroughly
beaten and demoraHsed force. Such a disastrous experience
would have utterly ruined almost any other miUtary leader, and
that Enver felt his reverses keenly was evident from the way in
which he kept himself from pubHc view. I had my first ghmpse
of him, after his return, at a concert given for the benefit of the
Red Crescent. At this affair Enver sat far back in a box, as
though he intended to keep as much as possible out of sight ; it
was quite apparent that he was uncertain as to the cordiahty of
his reception by the public. All the important people in Con-
stantinople, the Crown Prince, the members of the Cabinet, and
the Ambassadors attended this function, and, in accordance with
the usual custom, the Crown Prince sent for these dignitaries,
one after another, for a few words of greeting^and congratulation.
After that the visiting from box to box became general. The
heir to the throne sent for Enver as well as the rest, and this
recognition evidently gave him a new courage, for he began to
mingle with the diplomats, who also treated him with the utmost
cordiality and courtesy. Enver apparently regarded this
favourable notice as having re-estabhshed his standing, and now
once more he assumed a leading part in the crisis. A few days
afterward he discussed the situation with me. He was much
astonished, he said, at the fear that so generally prevailed, and
he was disgusted at the preparations that had been made to seVid
away the Sultan and the Government and practically leave the
city a prey to the Enghsh. He did not believe that the AlHed
fleets could force the Dardanelles ; he had recently inspected all
the fortifications and he had every confidence in their ability to

K

130 Secrets of the Bosphorus

resist successfully. Even though the ships did get through, he
insisted that Constantinople should be defended to the last man.

Yet Enver's assurance did not satisfy his associates. They
had made all .their arrangements for the British fleet. If, in
spite of the most heroic resistance the Turkish armies could make,
it still seemed Hkely that the Allies were about to capture the
city, the ruling Powers had their final plans all prepared. They
proposed to do to this great capital precisely what the Russians
did to Moscow, when Napoleon appeared before it.
. " They will never capture an existing city," they told me,
" only a heap of ashes." As a matter of fact, this was no idle
threat. I was told that cans of petroleum had been already
stored in all the poUce stations and other places, ready to. fire the
towti at a moment's notice. As Constantinople is largely built
of wood, this would have been no very difficult task. But they
were determined to destroy more than these temporary struc-
tures ; the plans aimed at the beautiful architectural monuments
built by the Christians long before the Turkish occupation. The
Turks had particularly marked for dynamiting the Mosque of
Santa Sophia. This building, which had been a Christian church
centuries before it became a Mohammedan mosque, is one of the
most magnificent structures of the vanished Byzantine Empire.
Naturally the suggestion of such an act of vandalism aroused us
all, and I made a plea to Talaat that Santa Sophia should be
spared. He treated the proposed destruction lightly.

" There are not six men in the Committee of Union and
Progress," he told me, " who care for anything that is old. We
all hke new things ! "

That was all the satisfaction I obtained in this matter at that
time. . ,■ "

Enver's insistence that the Dardanelles could resist caused
his associates to lose confidence in his judgment. About a year
afterward, Bedri Bey, the Prefect of Police, gave me additional
details. While Enver was still in the Caucasus, Bedri said, j
Talaat had called a conference, a kind of council of war, on the
Dardanelles. This had been attended by Liman von Sanders,
the German General who had reorganised the Turkish Army;
Usedom, the German Admiral who was the Inspector-General of
the Ottoman coast defences, and Bronsart, the German Chief of
Staff of the Turkish Army, and several others. Every man present
gave it as his opinion that the British and French fleets could
force the strait ; the only subject of dispute, said Bedri, "was
whether it would take the ships eight or twenty hours to reach
Constantinople after they had destroyed the defences. Enver's

The Turks Prepare to Flee from Constantinople 131

position was well understood, but this council decided to ignore
him and to make the preparations without his knowledge— to
eliminate the Minister of War, at least temporarily, from their
deliberations.

In early March, Bedri and Djambolat, who was Director of
Public Safety, came to see me. At that time the exodus from
the capital had begun ; Turkish women and children were being
moved into the interior ; all the banks had been compelled to
send their gold into Asia Minor ; the archives of the Sublime
Porte had already been carried to Eski-Shehr, and practically all
the Ambassadors and their suites, as well as most of the Govern-
ment officials, had made their preparations to leave. Many of
Constantinople's finest works of art had been buried in cellars or
covered for protection, the Director of the Museum being one of
the six Turks to whonj Talaat had referred as liking " old things."

Bedri came to arrange the details of my departure. As Am-
bassador I was personally accredited to the Sultan, and it would
obviously be my duty, said Bedri, to go wherever the Sultan went ;
the train was all ready, he added. He wished to know how many
people I intended to take, so that sufficient space could be
reserved. To this proposal I entered a flat refusal. I informed
Bedri that I thought that my responsibilities made it necessary
for me to remain in Constantinople. Only a neutral Ambassador,
I said, could forestall massacres and the destruction of the city,
and certainly I owed it to the civilised world to prevent, if I
could, such calamities as these. If my position as Ambassador
made it inevitable that I should follow the Sultan, I would resign
and become honorary Consul-General.

Both Bedri and Djambolat were much younger and less
experienced men than I, and I therefore told them that they
needed a man of maturer years to advise them in an inter-
national crisis of this kind. I was not only interested in protect-
ing foreigners and American institi:itions, but I was also inter-
ested, on general humanitarian grounds, in safeguarding the
Turkish population from the excesses that were generally
expected. The several nationalities, many of them containing
"elements which were given to pillage and massacre, were causing
great anxiety. I therefore proposed to Bedri and Djambolat
that the three of us form a kind of committee to take control
in the approaching crisis. They consented, and we sat down
and decided on a course of action. We took a map of Con-
stantinople and marked the districts which, under the exist-
ing rules of warfare, we agreed that the AlHed fleet would
have the right to bombard. Thus, we" decided that the War

132

Secrets of the Bosphorus

Office, Marine Office, telegraph offices, railroad stations, and all
public buildings could quite legitimately be made the targets for
their guns. Then we marked out certain zones which we should
insist on regarding as immune. The main residential section,
and the part where all the Embassies are located, is Pera, the
district on the north shore of the Golden Horn. This we marked
as not subject to attack. We also delimited certain residential
areas of Stamboul and Galata, the Turkish sections. I tele-
graphed to Wasliington, asking the State Department to obtain
a ratification of these plans and an agreement to respect these
zones of safety from the British and French Governments. I
received a reply endorsing my action.

All preparations had thus been made. At the station stood
trains which were to take the Sultan and the Government and
the Ambassadors to Asia Minor. They had steam up, ready to
move at a minute's notice. We were all awaiting the triumphant
arrival of the Allied fleet.

CHAPTER XVII

ENVER AS THE MAN WHO DEMONSTRATED " THE VULNERABILITY
OF THE BRITISH FLEET "^OLD-FASHIONED DEFENCES OF THE

DARDANELLES'

When the situation had reached this exciting stage Enver asked
me to visit the Dardanelles. He still insisted that the fortifications
were impregnable, and he could not understand, he said, the panic
which was then raging in Constantinople. He had visited the
Dardanelles himself, had inspected every gun and every em-
placement, and was entirely confident that his soldiers could hold
off the AUied fleet indefinitely. He had taken Talaat down, and
by doing so he had considerably eased that statesman's fears.
It was Enver 's conviction that, if I could visit the fortifications,
I would be persuaded that the fleets could never get through, and
that I would thus be able to give such assurances to the people
that the prevailing excitement would subside, t disregarded
certain natural doubts as to whether an Ambassador should
expose himself to the dangers of such .a situation — the ships were
bombarding nearly every day — and promptly accepted Enver's
invitation.

On the morning of the 15th we left Constantinople on the
Yiiruk. Enver himself accompanied us as far as Panderma, an
Asiatic town on the Sea of Marmora. The party included several
other notables : Ibrahim Bey, the Minister of Justice, Husni
Pasha, the General who had commanded the army which had
deposed Abdul Hamid in the Young Turk revolution, and Senator
Cheriff Djafer Pasha, an Arab and a direct descendant of the
Prophet. A particularly congenial companion was Fuad Pasha,
an old Field-Marshal, who had led an adventurous career.
Despite his age, he had an immense capacity for enjoyment, was
a huge feeder and a capacious drinker, and had as many stories
to teli of exile, battle, and hair-breadth escapes as Othello. All
of these men were much older than Enver, and all of them were
descended of far more distinguished lineage, yet they treated
tin's stripling with the utmost deference.

Enver seemed particularly glad of this opportunity to discuss
the situation. Immediately after breakfast he tock me aside,
and together we went up to the deck. The day was a beautiful

134. Secrets of the Bosphorus

sunny one, and the sky in the Marmora was that deep blue which
we find only in this part of the world. What most impressed me
was the intense quiet, the almost , desolate inactivity of these
silent waters. Our ship was almost the only one in sight, and
this inland sea, which in ordinary times was one of the world's
greatest commercial highways, was now practically a primeval
'Waste. The whole scene -was merely a reflection of the great
triumph which German diplomacy had accomphshed in the Near
East. . • •

For nearly six months not a Russian merchant ship had
passed through the straits. All the commerce of Rumania and
Bulgaria, which had normally found its way to Europe across
this inland sea, had long since disappeared. The ultimate
significance of all this desolation was that Russia was blockaded
and completely isolated from her allies. How much that one
fact has meant in the history of the world for the last three years !
And now England and France were seeking to overcome this
disadvantage ; to link up their own mihtary resources with those
of their great eastern ally, and to restore to the Dardanelles and
the Marmora the thousands of ships that meant Russia's existence
as a mihtary and economic, and even, as subsequent events have
shown, as a pohtical. Power. We were approaching the scene of
one of the great crises of the war.

Would England and her allies succeed in this enterprise ?
Would their ships at the Dardanelles smash the fortifications,
break through, and again make Russia a permanent force in the
war ? That was the main subject which Enver and I discussed,
as for nearly three hours we walked up and down the deck,
Enver again referred to the " silly panic " that had seized nearly
all classes in the capital.

" Even though Bulgaria and Greece both turn against
us," he said, " we shall defend Constantinople to the end.
We have plenty of guns,^ plenty of ammunition, and we have
these on terra-firma, whereas the EngHsh and French batteries
are floating ones.- And the natural advantages of the straits
are so great that the warships can make Httle progress against
them. I do not care, what other people may think. I have
studied this problem more thoroughly than any of them, and
I feel that I am right. As long as I am at the head of the War
Department we shall not give up. Indeed, I do not know just
what these English and French battleships are driving at.
Suppose that they rush the Dardanelles, get here into the Mar-
mora, and reach Constantinople, what good will that do them ?
They can bombard and destroy the city, I admit, but they

" The Vulnerability of the British Fleet " 135

cannot capture it, as they have no troops to land. Unless they
do bring a large army, they will really be caught in a trap. They
can perhaps stay here for two or three weeks, until their food and
supplies are all exhausted, and then they will have to go back —
rush the straits again, and again run the risk of annihilation.
In the meantime we would have repaired the forts, brought in
troops, and made ourselves ready for them.* It seems to me to
be a very foolish enterprise."

I have already told how Enver had taken Napoleon as his
model, and in this Dardanelles expedition he now apparently saw
a Napoleonic opportunity. As we were pacing the deck he
stopped a moment, looked at me earnestly, and said :

" I shall go down in history as the man who demonstrated
the vulnerabihty of England and her fleet. I shall show that
her Navy is not invincible. I was in England a few years before
the war, and discussed England's position with many of her
leading men, such as Asquith, Churchill, Haldane. I told them
that their course was wrong. Winston Churchill declared that
England could defend herself with her Navy alone, and that she
needed no large Army. I told Churchill that no great empire'
could last that did not have both an army and a navy. I found
that Churchill's opinion was the one that prevailed everywhere
in England. There was only one man I met who agreed with me
— that was Lord Roberts. Well, Churchill has now sent his fleet
down here — perhaps to show me that his Navy can do all that he
said it could do. Now we'll see."

Enver seemed to regard his naval expedition as a personal
challenge from Mr. Churchill to himself — almost hke a continua-
tion of their argument in London.

" You, too, should have a large army,'.' said Enver, referring
to the United States.

" I do not beUeve," he went on, " that England is trying to
force the Dardanelles because Russia has asked her to. When I
was in England I discussed with Churchill the possibihty of a
general war. He asked me what Turkey would do in such a case,
and said that, if we took Germany's side, the British fleet would
force the Dardanelles and capture Constantinople. Churchill is
not trying to help Russia — he is carrying out the threat made to
me at that time."

Enver spoke with the utmost determination and conviction ;
he said that nearly all the damage inflicted on the outside forts
had been repaired, and that the Turks had methods of defence the
existence of which the enemy httle suspected. He showed great
bitterness against ti^e Enghsh ; he accused them of attempting

136 Secrets of the Bosphorus

to bribe Turkish officials, and even said that they had instigated
attempts upon his own Hfe. On the other hand, he. displayed no
particular friendliness toward th^ Germans. Wangenheim's
overbearing manners had caused him much irritation, and the
Turks, he said, got on none too well with the German officers.

" The Turks and Germans," he added, " care nothing for each
other. We are with them because it is our interest to be with
them ; 'they are with us because that is their interest. Germany
will back Turkey just so long as that helps Germany ; Turkey
will back Germany just so long as that helps Turkey."

Enver seemed much impressed at the close of our interview
with the intimate personal relations which we had estabhshed
with each other. He apparently believed that he, the great
Enver, the Napoleon of the Turkish Revolution, had unbended in
discussing his nation's affairs with a mere Ambassador ; colossal
vanity, as I have before remarked, was one of his strong points.

'" You know," he said, " that there is no one in Germany with
whom the Emperor talks as intimately as I have talked with you
to-day."

We reached Panderma about two o'clock. Here Enver and
his auto were put ashore, and our party started again, our boat
arriving at Gallipoh late in the afternoon. We anchored in the
harbour and spent the night oh board. All the evening we could
hear the guns bombarding the fortifications, but these reminders
of war and death did not affect the spirits of my Turkish hosts.
The occasion was for them a great lark ; they had spent several
months in hard, exacting work, and now they behaved hke boys
suddenly let out for a vacation. They made jokes, told stories,
sang the queerest kinds of songs, and played childish pranks upon
each other. The venerable Fuad, despite his nearly ninety
years, developed great quaHties as an entertainer, and the fact
that his associates made him the butt of most of their horse-play
apparently only added to his enjoyment of the occasion. The
amusement reached its height when one of his friends surrepti-
tiously poured him a glass of eau-de-cologne. The old gentleman
looked at the new drink a moment and then diluted it with water.
I was told that the proper way of testing raki, the popular Turkish
tipple, is by mixing it with water ; if it turns white under this
treatment it is the real thing, and 'may be safely drunk. Ap-
parently water has the same effect upon eau-de-cologne, for the'
contents of Fuad's glass, after this test, turned white. The old
gentleman, therefore; poured the whole thing down his throat
without a grimace — much to the hilarious entertainment of his
tormentors.

"The Vulnerability of the British Fle.et " 137

In the morning we started again. We had,now fairly arrived
in the Dardanelles, and from Gallipoli we had a sail of nearly
twenty-five miles to Tchanak Kale. For the most part this
section of the strait is uninteresting, and, from a military point
of view, it is unimportant. The stream is about two miles wide,
both sides are low-lying and marshy, and only a few scrambling
villages show any signs of hfe. I was told that there were a few
ancient fortifications, their rusty guns pointing toward the
Marmora, the emplacements having been erected there in the
early part of the nineteenth century for the purpose of preventing
hostile ships entering from the north. These fortifications,
however, were so inconspicuous that I could not see them. My
hosts informed me that they had no fighting power, and that,
indeed, there was nothing in the northern part of the straits,
from Point Nagara to the Marmora, that could offer resistance to
any modem fleet.

The chief interest which I found in this part of the
Dardanelles was purely historic and legendary. The ancient
town of Lampsacus appeared in the modern Lapsaki, just
across from GallipoU, and Nagara Point is the site of the
ancient Abydos, from which village Leander used to swim
nightly across the Hellespont to Hero — a feat which was repeated
about one hundred years ago by Lord Byron. Here, also, Xerxes
crossed from Asia to Greece on a bridge of boats, embarking on
that famous expedition which was to make him master of the
world. The tribe of Xerxes, I thought, as I passed the scene of
his exploit, is not yet entirely extinct ! The Germans and
Turks had found a less romantic use for this, the narrowest part
of the Dardanelles, for here they had stretched a cable and anti-
submarine barrage of mines and nets — a device which, as I shall
describe, did not keep the English and French underwater boats
out of the Marmora and the Bosphorus. It was not until we
rounded this historic point of Nagara that the dull monotony of
flat shores gave place to a more diversified landscape. On the
European side the chfi's now began to descend precipitously to
the water, reminding me of our own Pahsades along the Hudson,
and I obtained ghmpses of the hills and mountain ridges that
afterward proved such tragical stumbling-blocks to the valiant
Allied armies. The configuration of the land south of Nagara,
with its many hills and ridges, made it plain why the mihtary
engineers had selected tliis stretch of the Dardanelles as the
section best adapted to defence. •

Our boat was now approaching what was perhaps the most
commanding point in the whole strait, the city of Tchanak,

138 Secrets of the Bosphorus

or, to give it its modern European name, of Dardanelles. In
normal times this was a thriving port of 16,000 people,
its houses built of wood, the headquarters of a considerable
trade in wool and other products, and for centuries it
has been an important military station. Now, excepting for
the soldiers, it was deserted, the large civilian population having
been moved into Anatolia. The British fleet, we were told, had
bombarded this city ; yet this statement seemed hardly probable,
for I saw only a single house that ha,d been hit, evidently by a
stray shell which had been aimed at the near-by fortifications.

Djevad Pasha,, the Turkish Commander-in-Chief at the
Dardanelles, met us and escoTted our party to headquarters.
Djevad was a man of culture and of pleasing and cordial manners ;
as he spoke excellent German, I had no need of an interpreter.
I was much impressed by the deference with which the German
officers treated him. That he was the Commander-in-Chief in this
theatre of war, and that the Generals of the Kaiser were his
subordinates, was made plainly apparent. As we passed into his
office, Djevad stopped in front of a piece of a torpedo, mounted
in the middle of the hall, evidently as a souvenir.

" There is the great criminal ! " he said, calling my attention
to the relic. . ■

About this time the newspapers were hailing the exploit of
an English submarine, which had sailed from England to the
Dardanelles, passed under the minefield, and torpedoed the
Turkish warship Mesudie.

"That's the torpedo* that did it," said Djevad. "You'll
see the wreck of the ship when you go down."

The first fortification I visited was that of Anadolu Hamidie
(that is, Asiatic Hamidie), located on the water's edge just outside
of Tchanak. My first impression waS that I was in Germany.
The officers were practically all Germans, and everywhere Ger-
mans were building up buttresses with sacks of sand and in other
ways strengthening the emplacements. Here German, not
Turkish, was the language heard on every side. Oberst Wehrle,
who conducted me over these batteries, took the greatest delight
in showing them. He had the simple pride of the artist in his
work, and told me of the happiness that had come into his days
when Germany had at last found herself at war. All his life, he
said, he had spent in military practices, and, like most Germans,
he had become tired of manoeuvres, sham battles, and other forms
of mimic hostilities. Yet he was approaching fifty, he had
become a colonel, and he was fearful that his career would close
without actual military experience — and then the splendid thing

"The Vulnerability of the British Fleet" 139

had happened, and here he was, fighting a real English enemy,
firing real guns and shells ! There was nothing brutal about
Wehrle's manners ; he was a " gemiltiich " gentleman from
Baden, and thorouglily likeable ; yet he was all aglow with the
spirit of " Der Tag." His attitude was simply that of a man who
had spent his lifetime learning a trade and who now rejoiced at
the chance of exercising it. But he furnished an illuminating
light on the German military sharacter and the forces that had
really caused the war.

Feeling myself so completely in GeiTnan country, I asked
Colonel Wehrlc why there were so few Tiirks on this side of the
straits. " You won't ask me that question this afternoon," he
said, smihng, " when you go over to the' other side."

The location of Anadolu Hamidie seemed ideal. It stands
right at the water's edge, and consists — or it did then — of ten
guns, every one completely sweeping the Dardanelles. .Walking
upon the parapet, I had a clear view of the strait, Kum Kale, at
the entrance, about fifteen miles away, standing out conspicu-
ously. No warship could enter these waters without immediately
coming within complete sight of her gunners. Yet the fortress
itself, to an unprofessional eye hke my own, was not particularly
impressive. The parapet and traverses were merely mounds of
earth, and stand to-day practically as they were finished by their
French constructors in 1837. There is a general belief that the
Germans had completely modernised the Dardanelles defences,
but this was not true at that time. The guns defending Fort
Anadolu Hamidie were more than thirty years old, all being the
Krupp model of 1885, and the rusted exteriors of some of them
gave evidence of their age. Their extreme range was only
•about nine miles, while the range of the battleships opposing
them was about ten miles, and that of the Queen Elizabeth was
not far from eleven. The figures which I have given for Anadolu
Hamidie apply also to practically all the guns at the other effec-
tive fortifications. So far as the advantage of range was con-
cerned, therefore, the AUied fleet had a decided superiority, the
Queen Elizabeth alone having them all practically at her mercy.

Nor did the fortifications contain very considerable stores of
ammunition. At that time the European and American papers
were -printing stories that trainloads of shells and guns were
coming by way of Rumania from Germany to the Dardanelles.
From facts which I learned on this trip and subsequently, I
am convinced that these reports were pure . fiction. A number
of " red heads " — that is, non-armour-piercing projectiles, useful
only for fighting landing parties — had been brought from

I4P Secrets of the Bosphorus

Adrianople and were reposing in Hamidie, at the time of my visit,
but these were small in quantity, and of no value in fighting ships.
I lay this stress upon_ Hamidie because this was the most im-
portant fortification in the Dardanelles. Throughout the whole
bombardment it attracted more of the Alhed fire than any other
position, and it inflicted at least 60 per cent, of all the damage
that was done to the attacking ships. It was Anadolu Hamidie
which, in the great bombardment of March i8th, sank the
Bouvet, the French battleship, and v/hich in the course of the
whole attack had disabled several other units. All its ofhcers
were Germans and 85 per cent, of the men on duty came from
the crews of the Goeben and the Breslait.

Getting into the automobile, we sped along the miUtary road
to Dardanos, passing on the way the wreck of the Mesudie.
The Dardanos battery was as completely Turkish as the Hamidie
was German. The guns at Dardanos were somewhat more
modern than those at Hamidie — they were the Krupp model of
1905. Here also was stationed the only new battery which the
Germans had established up to the time of my visit ; it consisted
of several guns which they had taken from the German and
Turkish warships then lying in the Bosphorus. A few da5^s
before our inspection the Allied fleet had entered the Bay of
Erenkeui and had submitted Dardanos to a terrific bombardment,
the evidences of which I saw on every hand. The land for nearly
half a mile about seemed to have been completely churned up ;
it looked like photographs I had seen of the battlefields in France.
The strange thing was, that, despite all this punishment, the
batteries themselves remained intact ; not a single gun, my
guides told me, had been destroyed. , '

" After the war is over," said General Mertens, " we are
going to establish a big tourist resort here, build a hotel, and sell
relics to you Americans. We shall not have to do much excavat-
ing to find them — the British fleet is doing that for us now."

This sounded like a passing joke, yet the statement was
literally true. Dardanos, where this emplacement is located,
was one of the famous cities of the ancient world ; in Homeric
times it was part of the principality of Priam. Fragments of
capitals and columns are still visible. And the shells from the
Allied fleet were now ploughing up many relics which had been
buried for thousands of years. One of my friends picked up a
water-] ug which had perhaps been used in the days of Troy.
The effectiveness of modern gunfire in excavating these evidences
of a long-lost civilisation was striking, though, unfortunately, the
relics did not always come to the surface intact.

"The Vulnerability of the British Fleet" 141

The Turkish Generals were extremely proud of the fight
which this Dardanos battery had made against the British ships.
They would lead me to the guns that had done particularly good
service and pat them affectionately. For my benefit Djevad
called out Lieutenant .Hassan, the Turkish officer who had de-
fended this position. He was a Uttle fellow, with jet-black hair,
black eyes, extremely modest and almost shrinking in the
presence of these great Generals. Djevad patted Hassan on
both cheeks, while another high Turkish officer stroked liis.hair ;
one would have thought that he was a faithful dog who had just
performed some meritorious ser\dce.

"It is men like you of whom great heroes are made," said
General Djevad. He asked Hassan to describe the attack and
the' way it had been met. The embarrassed lieut'enant quietly
told his story, though he was moved almost to tears by the
appreciation of his exalted chiefs.

" There is a great future for you in the Army," said General
Djevad, as we parted from this hero.

Poor Hassan's " future " came two days afterward, when the
Allied fleet made its greatest attack. One of the shells struck his
dugout, which caved in, killing the boy. Yet his behaviour on
the day I visited his battery showed that he regarded the praise
of his General as sufficient compensation for all that he had
suffered or all that he might suffer.

I was much puzzled by the fact that the Allied fleet, despite
its large expenditures of ammunition, had not been able to hit
this Dardanos emplacement. I naturally thought at first that
such a failure indicated poor marksmanship, but my German
guides said that that was not the case. All this misfire merely
illustrated once more the familiar fact that a rapidly-manoeuvring
battleship is under great disadvantage in shooting at a fixed
fortification. But there was another point involved in the
Dardanos battery. My hosts called my attention to its location ;
it was perched on the top of the hiU, in full view of the ships,
itself forming a part of the skyline. Dardanos was merely five
steel turrets, each with a gun, approached by a winding trench.

" That," they said, " is the most difficult thing in the world
to liit. It is so distinct that it looks easy, but the whole thing is
an illusion."

I do not understand completely the optics of the situation,
but it seems that the skyhne creates a kind of mirage, so that it
is practically impossible to hit anything at that point, except by
accident. The gunner might get what was apparently a perfect
sight, yet his shell would go wide. The record of Dardanos had

142 Secrets of the Bosphorus

been little short of marvellous. Up to March i8th, the ships
had fired at it about 4,000 shells. One turret had been hit by a
splinter, which had also scratched the paint, anothar bad been
hit and sHghtly bept in, and another had been hit near the base
and a piece about the size of a man's hand had been knocked out.
But not a single gun had been even.sHghtly damaged. Eight
men had been killed, including Lieutenant Hassan, and about
forty had been wounded. That was the extent of the destruction.
" It was the optical illusion that saved Dardanos," one of the
Germans remarked.

r

CHAPTER XVIII

THE ALLIED ARMADA SAILS AWAY, THOUGH ON THE BRINK OF

VICTORY

Again getting into the automobile, we rode along the shore, my
host calling my attention to the minefields, which stretched
from Tchanak southward about seven miles. In this area the
Germans and Turks had scattered nearly 400 mines. They told
me with a good deal of gusto that the Russians had furnished a
considerable number of these destructive engines. Day after
day Russian destroyers sowed mines at the Black Sea entrance to
the Bosphorus, hoping that they would float down-stream and
fulfil their appointed task. Every morning Turkish and German
mine-sweepers would go up, fish out these mines, and place them
in the Dardanelles.

The battery at Erenkeui had also been subjected to a heavy
bombardment, but it had suffered httle. Unlike Dardanos, it
was situated back of a hill, completely shut out from \iew. In
order to fortify this spot, I was told, the Turks had been com-
pelled practically to dismantle the fortifications of the Inner
Straits — that section of the stream which extends from Tchanak
to Point Nagara. This was the reason why this latter part of the
Dardanelles was now practically unfortified. The guns that had
been moved for this purpose were old-style Krupp pieces of the
model of 1885.

South of Erenkeui, on the hills bordering the road, the
Germans had introduced an innovation. They had found several
Krupp 'howitzers left over from the Bulgarian war and had
installed therh on concrete foundations. Each battery had four
or live of these emplacements, so that, as I approached them, I
found several substantial bases that apparently had no guns.
I was mystified further at the sight of a herd of buffaloes — I think
I counted sixteen engaged in the operation — hauling one of these
howitzers from one emplacement to another. This, it seems, was
part of the plan of defence. As soon as the dropping shells
indicated that the fleet had obtained the range, the howitzer
would be moved, with the aid of buffalo teams, to another
concrete emplacement. L-^r- .i^j'

" We have even a better trick than that," remarked one of

144 S6crets of the Bosphorus

the officers. They called out a sergeant, and recounted his
acliievement. This soldier was the custodian of a contraption
which, at a distance, looked like a real gun, but which, when I
examined it near at hand, was apparently an elongated section" of
sewer pipe. Back of a hill, entirely hidden from the fleet, was
placed the gun with which this sergeant had co-operated. The
two were connected by telephone. When the command came to
fire, the gunner in charge of the howitzer would discharge his
shell, while the- man in charge of the sewer pipe would burn
several pounds of black powder and send forth a conspicuous
cloud of inky smoke. Not unnaturally, the Englishmen and
Frenchmen on the ships would assume that the shells speeding in
their direction came from the visible smoke-cloud, and would
proceed to centre all their attention upon that. spot. The space
around this burlesque gun was pock-marked with shell-holes ; the
sergeant in charge, I was told, had attracted more than 500 shots,
while, the real artillery piece still remained intact and undetected.

From Erenkeui we motored back to General Djevad's head-
quarters, ' where we had lunch. Djevad took me up to an
observation post, and there before my eyes I had the beautiful
blue ejipanse of the lEgean. I could see the entrances to the
Dardanelles, Sedd-ul-Bahr, and Kum Kale standing Hke the
guardians of a gateway, with the rippling sunny waters stretching
between. Far out I saw the majestic ships of England and
"France saiUng across th^ entrance, and, still farther away, I
caught a glimpse of the island of Tenedos, beliind which we knew
that a still larger fleet lay concealed. Naturally this prospect
brought to mind a thousand historic and legendary associations,
for there is probably no single spot in the world more crowded
with poetry and romance. Evidently my Turkish escort.
General Djevad, felt the spell, for he took a telescope and pointed
a,t a bleak expanse, perhaps ten miles away.

" Look at that spot," he said, handing .me the glass. " Do
you know what that is ? "

I looked, but could not identify. this sandy beach.

" Those are the plains of Troy," he said. " And the river
that you see winding in and out," he added, " we Turks call it
the Mendere, but Homer knew it as the Scamander. Back of us,
only a few miles away, is Mount Ida."

Then Tie turned his glass out to sea, swept the field where the
British ships lay, and again asked me to look at an indicated spot.
I immediately brought within view a magnificent EngUsh war-
ship, all stripped for battle, quietly steaming along like a^man
walking, on patrol duty.

<
^

The Allied Armada Sails Away 145

" That," said General Djevad, " is the Agamemnon ! Shall
I fire a shot at her ? " he asked me.

" Yes, if you'll promise me not to hit her," I answered.

We lunched at headquarters, where we were joined by
Admiral Usedom, General Mertens, and General Pomiankowsky,
the Austrian Military Attache at Constantinople. The chief note
in the conversation was one of absolute confidence in the future.
Whatever the diplomats and pohticians in Constantinople may
have thought, these men, Turks and Germans, had no expectation
— at least, their conversation betrayed none — that the Allied fleets
would pass their defences. What they seemed to hope for above
everything was that their enemies would make another attack.

" If we could only get a chance at the Queen Elizabeth ! " said
one eager German, referring to the greatest ship in the British
Navy, then lying off the entrance.

As the Rhein wine began to disappear, their eagerness for the
combat increased.

" If the damn foolsr would only make a landing ! " exclaimed
one — I quote his precise words.

The Turkish and German officers, indeed, seemed to vie with
each other in expressing their readiness for thfe fray. Probably
a good deal of this was bravado, intended for my consumption —
.indeed, I had private information that their real estimate of the
situation was much less reassuring. Now, however, they declared
that the war had presented no real opportunity for the German
and English Navies to measure swords, and for this reason the
Germans at the Dardanelles welcomed this chance to try the
issue. .

Having visited all the important places on the Anatolian side,
we took a launch and sailed over to the GallipoU Peninsula. We
almost had a disastrous experience on this trip. As we ap-
proached the Gallipoli shore, our helmsman was asked if he knew
the location of the minefield and if he could steer through the
channel. He said " yes," and then steered directly for the
mines ! Fortunately the other men noticed the mistake in time,
and so we arrived safely at Kilid-ul-Bahr. The batteries here
were of about the same character as those on the other side ; they
formed one of the main defences of the straits. Here every-
thing, so far as a layman could judge, was in excellent condition,
barring the fact that the artillery pieces were of old design and
the ammunition not at all plentiful.

The batteries showed signs of a heavy bombardment. None
had been destroyed, but shell-holes surrounded the fortification.
My Turkish and German friends looked at these evidences of

146 Secrets of the Bosphorus

destruction rather seriously, and they were outspoken in their
admiration for the accuracy of the Allied fire.

'VHow do they ever get the range ? " This was the question
they were asking each other. What made the shooting so
remarkable was the fact that it came, not from Allied ships in the
straits, but from ships stationed in the ^gean Sea, on the other
side of the GaUipoh Peninsula. The gunners had never seen
their target, but had had to fire at a distance of nearly ten
miles, over high hills, and yet many of their shells had barely
missed the batteries at Kihd-ul-Bahr.

When I was there, however, the place was quiet, for no fighting
was going on that day. For my particular benefit the officers
put one of their gun-crews through a drill, so that I could obtain
a perfect picture of the behaviour of the Turks in action. In
their minds' eyes these artillerists now saw the Enghsh ships j
advancing within range, all their guns pointed to destroy the
followers of the Prophet. The bugleniLu. blew his horn, and the
whole company rushed to their appointed places. Some were
bringing shells, others were opening the breeches, others were
taking the ranges, others were straining at pulleys, and others
were putting the charges -into place. Everything was quickness
and alertness ; evidently the Germans had been excellent
instructors, but there was more to it than German military
precision, for the men's faces hghted up with all that fanaticism
which supplies the morale of Turkish soldiers. These gunners
momentarily imagined that they were shooting once more at the
infidel English, and the exercise was a congenial one. Above the
shouts of all I could hear the sing-song chant of the leader,
intoning the prayer with which the Moslem has rushed to battle
for thirteen centuries.

" Allah is great, there is but one God, and Mohammed is his
Prophet ! "

When I looked upon these frenzied men, and saw so plainly
written in their faces their uncontrollable hatred of the un-
behevers, I called to mind what the Germans had said in the
morning about the wisdom of not putting Turkish and German
soldiers together. I am quite sure that, had this been done, here,
at least, the " Holy War " would have proved a success, and that
the Turks would have vented their hatred of Christians on those
who happened to be nearest at hand, for the moment overlooking
the fact that they were alHes.

I returned to Constantinople that evening, and two days
afterward, on March i8th, the Alhed fleet made its greatest
attack. As all the world knows, that attack proved disastrous

The Allied Armada Sails Away 147

to the All:,es. The outcome was the sinking of the Bottvet, the
Ocean, and the Irresistible, and the serious cripphng of four other
vessels. Of the sixteen sliips engaged in tliis battle of the i8th,
seven were thus put temporarily or permanently out of action.

Naturally the Germans and Turks rejoiced over this victory.
The poUce went around and ordered householders each to display
a prescribed number of flags in honour of the event. The
Turkish people have so httle spontaneous patriotism or en-
thusiasm of an^^ kind that they would never decorate th- •'
estabhshments without such definite orders ! As a matter of
fact, neither Germans nor Turks regarded this celebration too
seriously, for they were not yet persuaded that they had really
won a victory. Most still believed that the Alhed fleets would
succeed in forcing their way through. The only question, they
said, was whether the Entente was ready to sacrifice the necessary
number of ships.

Neither Wangenheim nor Pallavicini believed that the
disastrous experience of the i8th would end the naval attack,
and for days they anxiously waited for the fleet to return.
Tills was the general expectation, for no one beHeved that the
Alhes, after making this great demonstration, would accept
defeat after the loss of only three ships. The high tension lasted
for days and weeks after the repulse of the i8th. We were still
momentarily expecting the renewal of the attack. But the great
armada never returned.

Should it have come back ? Could the Allied ships really
have captured Constantinople ? I am constantly asked this
question. As a layman my own opinion can have little value,
but I have quoted the opinions of the German Generals and
Admirals, and of the Turks — practically all of whom, excepting
Enver, believed that the enterprise would succeed, and I am half
inchned to believe that Enver's attitude was merely a case of
graveyard whistHng. In what I now have to say on this point,
therefore, I wish it understood that I am giving, not my own views,
but merely those of the officials then in Turkey who were best
quahfied to judge.

Enver had told me, in our talk on the deck of the Yuruk, that
he had " plenty of guns, plenty of ammunition." But this
statement was not true. A glance at the map will show why
1 urkey was not receiving munitions from Germany or Austria
a I that time. The fact was that Turkey was just as completely
ibolated from her alhes then as was Russia. There were two
liiilroad lines leading from Constantinople to Germany. One
went by way of Bulgaria and Serbia. Bulgaria was then not an

148 Secrets of the Bosphorus

ally. Even though she had winked at the passage of guns and
shells, this line could not have been used, since Serbia, which
controlled the vital link extending from Nish to Belgrade, was
still intact.

The other railroad line went through Rumania, by way
of Bucharest. This route was independent of Serbia, and,
had the Rumanian Government consented, it would have formed
a clear route from the Krupps to the Dardanelles. The fact that
munitions could be sent oft with the connivance of the Rumanian
Government perhaps accounts for the suspicion that guns and
shells were going by that route. Day after day the French and
British Ministers protested at Bucharest against this alleged
violation of neutrahty, only to be met with angry denials that the
Germans were using tlris Line. There is no doubt now that the
Rumanian Government was perfectly honourable in making
these denials. It is not unlikely that the Germans themselves
started all these stories, merely to fool the Allied fleet into the
belief that their supplies were inexhaustible.

Let us suppose that the Allies had returned, say, on the
morning of the 19th, what would have happened ? The one
overwhelming fact is that the fortifications were very short of
ammunition. They had almost reached the limit of their resisting
powers when the British fleet passed out on the afternoon of the
i8th. I had secured permission for Mr. George A. Schreiner, the
well-known American correspondent of the Associated Press, to
visit the Dardanelles on this occasion. On the night of the i8th
this correspondent discussed the situation with General Mertens,
who was the chief technical officer at the Straits. General
Mertens admitted that the outlook was very discouraging for the
defence.

" We expect that the British will come back early to-morrow
morning," he said, " and if they do we may be able to hold out
for a few hours."

General Mertens did not declare in so many words that the
ammunition was practically exhausted, but Mr. Schreiner dis-
covered that such was the case. The fact was that Fort
Hamidie, the most powerful defence on the Asiatic side, had just
seventeen armour-piercing shells left, while at Kilid-vil-Bahr,
which was the main defence on the European side, there were
precisely ten.

" I should advise you to get up at six o'clock to-morrow
morning," said General Mertens, " and take to the Anatolian
Hills. That's what we are going to do."

The troops at all the fortifications had their orders to man the

The Allied Armada Sails Away 149

guns until the last shell had been fired and then to abandon the
forts.

Once these defences became helpless, the problem of the
Allied fleet would have been a simple one. The only bar to their
progress would have been the minefield, which stretched from a
point about two miles north of Erenkeui to Kilid-ul-Bahr. But
the Allied fleet had plenty of mine-sweepers, which could have
made a channel in a few hours. North of Tchanak, as I have
already explained, there were a few guns, but they were of the
1878 model, and could not discharge projectiles that could pierce
modern armour-plate. North of Point Nagara there were only
two batteries, and both dated from 1835 ! Thus, once having
silenced the outer straits, there was nothing to bar the passage
to Constantinople except the German and Turkish warships.
The Goehen was the only first-class fighting ship in either fleet,
and would not have lasted long against the Queen Elizabeth.
The disproportion in the strength of the opposing fleets, indeed,
was so enormous that it is doubtful whether there would ever
have been an engagement.

Thus the Allied fleet would have appeared before Con-
stantinople on the morning of the 20th. What would have
happened then ? We have heard much discussion as to whether
this purely naval attack was justified. Enver, in his conversation
with me, had laid much stress on the absurdity of sending a fleet
to Constantinople, supported by no adequate landing force ; and
much of the criticism passed upon the Dardanelles expedition
since has centred on that point. Yet it is my opinion that
this purely naval attack was justified. I base this judgment
upon the political situation which then existed in Turkey. Under
ordinary circumstances such an enterprise would probably have
been a fooHsh one, but the political conditions in Constantinople
then were not ordinary. There was no solidly-cstabUshed
Government in Turkey at that time. A political committee, not
exceeding forty members, headed by Talaat, Enver, and Djemal,
controlled the Central Government, but their authority through-
out the Empire was exceedingly tenuous. As a matter of fact,
the whole Ottoman State, on that i8th day of March,
1915, when the Allied fleet abandoned the attack, was on the
brink of dissolution. All over Turkey ambitious chieftains had
arisen, who were momentarily expecting the fall, and who were
looking for the opportunity to seize their parts of the inheritance.

As previously described, Djemal had already organised practi-
cally an independent Government in Syria. In Smyrna, Rahrai
Bey, the Governor-General, had often disregarded the authorities

150 Secrets of the Bosphorus

in the capital. In Adrianople, Hadji Adil, one of the most courage-
ous Turks of the time, was making his plans to set up an inde-
pendent Government. Arabia was already practically an
independent nation. Among the subject races the spirit of
revolt was rapidly spreading. The Greeks and the Armenians
would also have welcomed an opportunity to strengthen the
hands of the Allies. The existing financial and industrial
conditions seemed to make revolution inevitable. Many
farmers went on strike ; they had no seeds, and would not accept
them as a free gift from the Government because, they said,_ as
soon as their crops should be garnered the Armies would im-
mediatelv requisition them.

As for Constantinople, the populace there and the best
elements among the Turks, far from opposing the arrival
of the AlHed fleet, would have welcomed it with joy. The
Turks themselves were praying that the British and French
would take their city, for this would reHeve them of the con-
trolling gang, emancipate them from the hated Germans, bring
about peace, and end their miseries.

No one understood this better than Talaat. He was taking
no chances on making an expeditious retreat, in case the Allied
fleet appeared before the city. For several months the Turkish
leaders had been casting envious glances at a Minerva automobile
that had been reposing in the Belgian Legation ever since Turkey's
declaration of war. Talaat finally obtained possession of the
coveted prize. He had obtained somewhere another automobile,
which he had loaded with extra tyres, gasolene, and all the
other essentials of a protracted journey. This was evidently
intended to accompany the more pretentious machine as a kind
of " mother ship." Talaat stationed these automobiles on the
Asiatic side of the city with chauffeurs constantly at_ hand.
Everything was prepared to leave for the interior of Asia at a
moment's notice.

But the great Allied armada never returned to the attack.
About a week after this momentous defeat, I happened to
drop in at the German Embassy. Wangenheim had a dis-
tinguished visitor whom he had asked me to meet. I went into
his private office, and there was von der Goltz Pasha, recently
retumed from Belgium, where he had served as Governor. I
must admit that, meeting Goltz thus informally, I had difficulty
in reconciling his personality with all the stories that were then
coming out of Belgium. That morning this mild-mannered,
spectacled gentleman seemed sufficiently quiet and harmless.
Nor did he look his age— he was then about seventy-four ; his

ine Allied Armada Sails Away 151

hair was only streaked with grey, and his face was almost un-
wrinkled. I should not have taken him for more than sixty-five.

The austerity, brusquencss, and ponderous dignity which arc
assumed by most highly-placed Germans were not apparent.
His voice was deep, musical, and pleasing, and his manners were
altogether friendly and ingratiating. The only evidence of pomp
in his bearing was his uniform ; he was dressed as a Field-Marshal,
his body blazing with decorations and gold braid. Von der
Goltz explained and half-apologised for his regalia by sa5nng that
he had just returned from an audience wdth the Sultan. He had
come to Constantinople to present to His Majesty a medal from the
Kaiser, and was taking back to Berlin a similar mark of con-
sideration from the Sultan to the Kaiser, besides an Imperial
present of 10,000 cigarettes.

The three of us sat there for some time, drinking coffee, eating
German cakes, and smoking German cigars. I did not do much
of the talking, but the conversation of von der Goltz and Wangen-
heim seemed to me to shed much light upon the German mind,
and especially on the trustworthiness of German military reports.
The aspect of the Dardanelles fight that interested them most at
that time was England's complete frankness in publisliing her
losses. That the British Government should issue an official
statement, sa\ang that three ships had been sunk and that four
others had been badly damaged, struck them as most remarkable.
In this announcement I merely saw a manifestation of the usual
British desire to make pubhc the worst — the policy which we
Americans also believe to be the best in war-time. But no such
obvious explanation could satisfy these wise and solemn Teutons.
No, England had some deep purpose in telling the truth so
unblushingly ; what could it be ?

" Es ist ansserordentlich ! " (" It is extraordinary ! ") said von
der Goltz, referring to England's public acknowledgment of
defeat.

" Es ist unerhdrt I " ("It is unheard] of !")" declared the
equally astonished Wangenheim.

These master diplomatists canvassed one explanation after
another, and finally reached a conclusion that satisfied the higher
strategy. England, they agreed, really had had no enthusiasm
for this attack, because, in the event of success, she would have
had to hand Constantinople over to Russia — something which
England really did not intend to do. By pubHshing the losses,
England showed Russia the enormous difficulties of the task ; she
had demonstrated, indeed, that the enterprise was impossible.
After such losses, England intended Russia to understand that

152 Secrets of the Bosphorus

she had made a sincere attempt to gain this great prize of war
and expected her not to insist on further sacrifices.

The sequel to this great episode in the war came in the winter
of 1915-16. By this time Bulgaria had taken sides with- the '
Entente, Serbia had been overwhelmed, and the Germans had
obtained a complete unobstructed railroad hne from Constan-
tinople to Austria and Germany. Huge Krupp guns now began
to come over this Hne, all destined for the Dardanelles. Sixteen
great batteries, of the latest model, were emplaced near the
entrance, completely controlling Sedd-ul-Bahr. The Germans
lent the Turks 500,000,000 marks, much of which was spent
defending this indispensable highway. The thinly-fortified
straits through which I passed in March, 1915, are now as
impregnably fortified as Heligoland. It is doubtful if all the
fleets in the world could force the Dardanelles to-day.

CHAPTER XIX

A FIGHT FOR THREE THOUSAND CIVILIANS

On May 2nd, 1915, Enver sent his aide to the American Embassy,
bringing a message which he requested me to transmit to the
French and British Governments. About a week before, the
Allies had made their landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They
had evidently concluded that a naval attack by itself could not
destroy the defences and open the road to Constantinople, and
they had now adopted the alternative plan of despatching large
bodies of troops, to be supported by the guns of their warships.
Already many thousands of AustraUans and New Zealanders had
entrenched themselves at the tip of the Peninsula, and the
excitement that prevailed in Constantinople was almost as great
as that which had been caused by the appearance of the fleet two
months before.

Enver now informed me that the Allied ships were bombarding
in reckless fashion, and ignoring the well-established international
rule that such bombardments should be directed only against
fortified places. British and French shells, he said, were falling
everywhere, destrojdng unprotected Moslem villages and Idlling
hundreds of innocent non-combatants. Enver asked me to
inform the AlHed Governments that such activities must im-
mediately cease. He had decided to collect all the British and
French citizens who were then living in Constantinople, take
them down to the GaUipoli Peninsula, and scatter them in Moslem
villages and towns. The Allied fleets would then be throwing
their projectiles not only against peaceful and unprotected
Moslems, but against their own countrymen. It was Enver's
idea that this threat, communicated by the American x\mbassador
to the British and French Governments, would soon put an end
to " atrocities " of this kind. I was given a few days' respite to
get the information to London and Paris.

At that time about 3,000 British and French citizens were
living in Constantinople. The great majority belonged to the
class known as Levantines ; nearly all had been born in Turkey,
and in many cases their famihes had been domiciled in that
country for two or more generations. The retention of their

154 Secrets of the Bosphorus

European citizenship is almost their only contact with the
nation from which they have sprung. Not uncommonly we
meet in the larger cities of Turkey men and women who are
English by race and nationaUty, but who speak no English,
French being the usual language of the Levantine. The great
majority have never set foot in England, or any other European |
country ; thev have only one home, and that is Turkey. The
fact that the Levantine usually retains citizenship in the nation
of his origin was now apparently making him a fitting object for
Turkish vengeance.

Besides these Levantines, a large number of EngHsh
and French were then living in Constantinople as teachers
in the schools, as missionaries, and as important business men
and merchants. The Ottoman Government now proposed to
assemble all these residents, both those who were immediately
and those who were remotely connected with Great Britain and !
France, and to place them in exposed positions on the Gallipoli
Peninsula as targets for the Allied fleet.

Naturally my first question when I received the startling
information was whether the warships were really bombarding
defenceless towns. If they were murdering non-combatant men,
women, and children in this reckless fashion, such an act of
reprisal as Enver now proposed would probably have had some
justiiication. It seemed to me incredible, however, that the
English and French could commit such barbarities. I had
already received many complaints of this kind from Turkish
officials which, on investigation, had turned out to be untrue.
Only a little while before. Dr. Meyer, the first assistant to Suley-
man Nouman, the Chief of the Medical Staff, had notified me
that the British fleet had bombarded a Turkish hospital and
killed 1,000 invahds. When I looked into the matter, I found
that the building had been but slightly damaged, and only one
man killed.

I now naturally suspected that this latest tale of Allied
barbarity rested on a similarly flimsy foundation. I soon
discovered, indeed, that this was the case. . The AlHed fleet was
not bombarding Moslem villages at all. A number of British
warships had been stationed in the Gulf of Saros, an indentation
of the iEgean Sea, on the western side of the Peninsula, and from
this vantage point they were throwing shells into the city of
Gallipoli. All the " bombarding " of towns in which they were
now engaging was limited to this one city. In doing this the
British Navy was not violating the rules of civilised warfare,_for
Gallipoli had long since been evacuated of its civilian population,

I

A Fight for Three Thousand Civilians 155

and the Turks had established military headquarters in several
of the houses, which had properly become the object of the
Allied attack. I certainly knew of no rule of v/arfare which
prohibited an attack upon a military headquarters ! As to the
stories of murdered civilians — men, women, and children — these
proved to be gross exaggerations ; as almost the entire civilian
population had long since left, any casualties resulting from the
bombardment must have been confined to the armed forces of
the Empire.

I now discussed the situation for some time with Mr. Ernest
Wevl, who was generally recognised as the leading French citizen
in Constantinople, and with Mr. Hoffman Philip, the Conseiller
of the Embassy, and then decided that I would go immediately
to the Sublime Porte and protest to Enver.

The Council of Ministers was sitting at the time, but Enver
came out. His mood was more demonstrative than usual. As
he described the attack of the British fleet he became extremely
angry ; it was not the imperturbable Enver with whom I had
become so familiar.

" These cowardly English ! " he exclaimed. " They tried
for a long time to get through the Dardanelles, and we were too
much for them ! And see what kind of a revenge they are
taking. Their ships sneak up into the outer bay, where our
guns cannot reach them, and shoot over the hills at our little
villages, killing harmless old men, women, and children, and
bombarding our hospitals. Do you think we are going to let
them do that ? And what can we do ? Our guns don't reach
over the hills, so that we cannot meet them in battle. If we
could, we would drive them off, just as we did at the straits a
month ago. We have no fleet to send to England to bombard
their unfortified towns as they are bombarding ours, so we have
decided to move all the English and French we can find |to
Gallipoli. Let them kill their own people as well as ours."

T told him that, granted that the circumstances were as he
had stated them, he had grounds for indignation. But I called
his attention to the fact that he was wrong ; that he was accusing
the Allies of crimes which they were not committing.

" This is about the most barbarous thing that you have ever
contemplated," I said. " The British have a perfect right^to
attack a military headquarters like Gallipoli."

But my argument did not move Enver. I became convinced
that he had not decided on this step as a reprisal to protect his
own countr^TTien, but that he and his associates were really
looking for revenge. The fact that the Austrahans and New

156 Secrets of the Bosphorus

Zealanders had successfully effected a landing had aroused their
most barbarous instincts. Enver referred to this landing in our
talk. Though he professed to regard it lightly, and said that he
would soon push the French and English into the sea, I saw that
it was causing him much concern. The Turk, as I have said
before, is psychologically primitive ; to answer the British
landing at Gallipoli by murdering hundreds of helpless British
who were in his power would strike him as perfectly logical. As
a result of this talk I gained only a few concessions, Enver
agreed to postpone the deportation until Thursday — it was then
Sunday — to exclude women and children from the order, and to
take none of the British and French who were then connected
with American institutions.

" All the rest will have to go," was his final word. " More-
over," he added, " we don't purpose to have the English ships
fire at the transports we are sending to the Dardanelles. In the
future we shall put a few EngHshmen and Frenchmen on every
ship we send down there as a protection to our own soldiers."

When I returned to our Embassy I found that the news of the
proposed deportation had been published. The amazement and
despair that immediately resulted were unparalleled, even in that
city of constant sensations. Europeans, by living for many
years in the Levant, seem to acquire its emotions, particularly its
susceptibility to fear and horror, greatly accentuated by their
deprivation of the protection of their Embassies. A stream of
frenzied people now began to pour into the Embassy. From
their tears and cries one would have thought that they were
immediately to be taken out and shot ; that there was any
possibility of being saved seemed hardly to occur to them. Yet
all the time they insisted that I should get individual exemptions.
One could not go because he had a dependent family ; another
had a sick child ; another was ill himself. My ante-room was
full of frantic mothers, asking me to secure exemption for their
sons, and of wives who sought special treatment for their
husbands. They made all kinds of impossible suggestions. I
should resign my ambassadorship as a protest ; I should even
threaten Turkey with war by the United States ! They con-
stantly besieged my wife, who spent hours listening to their
stories and comforting them. In all this exciting mass there
were many who faced the situation with more courage.

The day after my talk with Enver, Bedri, the Prefect of
Police, began to arrest some of the victims.

The next morning one of my callers made what would
ordinarily have seemed to be an obvious suggestion. This

A Fight or Three Thousand Civilians 157

visitor was a German. He told me that Germany would suffer
greatly in reputation if the Turks carried out this plan ; the
world would not possibly be convinced that Germans had not
devised the whole scheme. He said that I should caU upon the
German and Austrian Ambassadors ; he was sure that they would
support me in my pleas for decent treatment. As I had made
appeals to W'angenheim several times before on behalf of
foreigners, without success, I had hardly thought it worth while
to ask his co-operation in tliis instance. Moreover, the plan of
using non-combatants as. a protective screen in warfare was such
a familiar German device that I was not at all sure that the
German Staff had not instigated the Turks. I decided, however,
to adopt the advice of my German visitor and seek Wangen-
heim's assistance. I must admit that I did this as a forlorn
hope, but at least I thought it only fair to Wangenheim to give
liim a chance to help.

I called upon him in the evening at ten o'clock and stayed
with him until eleven. I spent the larger part of this hour in a
fruitless attempt to interest him in the pHght of these non-
combatants. Wangenheim said point-blank that he would not
assist me. " It is perfectly proper," he maintained, " for the
Turks to estabhsh a concentration camp at GallipoH. It is also '
proper for them to put non-combatant Enghsh and French on
their transports and thus insure them against attack." As I
made repeated attempts to argue the matter, Wangenheim would
deftl}- shift the conversation to other topics. According to my
record of this talk, written out at the time, the German Am-
bassador discussed almost every subject except the one upon
which I had called.

" This act of the Turks will greatly injure Germany " I

would begin.

" Do you know that the Enghsh soldiers at Gaba Tepe are
without tood and drink ? " he would reply. " They made an
attack to capture a well and were repulsed. The Enghsh have
taken their sliips away so as to prevent their soldiers from
retreating "

" But about this Gallipoli business," I interrupted. " Ger-
mans themselves here in Constantinople have said that Germany
should stop it "

" The Allies landed 45,000 men on the Peninsula," Wangen-
heim answered, " and of these 10,000 were killed. In a few days
we shall attack the rest and destroy them."

When 1 attempted to approach the subject from another
angle, this master diplomatist would begin discussing Rumania

158 ' Secrets of the Bosphorus

and the possibility of obtaining ammunition by way of that
country.

" Your secretary, Bryan," he said, " has just issued a state-
ment showing that it would be unneutral for the United States to
refuse to sell ammunition to the AUies, so we have used tliis
same argument with the . Rumanians ; if it is unneutral not
to seU ammunition, it is certainly unneutral to refuse to
transport it ! "

The humorous aspects of this argument appealed to Wangen-
heim, but I reminded him that I was there to discuss the hves of
between 2,000 and 3,000 non-combatants. As I touched upon
this subject again, Wangenheim rephed that the United States
would not be acceptable to Germany as a peacemaker now,
because we were so friendly to the Entente. He insisted on
giving me all the details of recent German successes in the
Carpathians and the latest news on the Itahan situation.

" We would rather fight Italy than have her for our ally," he
said.

At another time all this would have greatly entertained me,
but not then. It was quite apparent that Wangenheim would
not discuss the proposed deportation further than to say that
'the Turks were justified. His statement that it was planned to
estabhsh a " concentration camp " at GaUipoli unfolded his whole
attitude. Up to this time the Turks had not estabhshed
concentration camps for enemy aliens anywhere. I had earnestly
advised them not to establish such camps, thus far with success.
On the other hand, the Germans were protesting that Turkey was
'' too lenient," and urging the establishment of such camps in
the interior. Wangenheim 's use of the words " concentration
camps in GaUipoH " showed that the German view was at last
prevailing and that I was losing my battle for the foreigners.

An internment camp is a distressing place under the most
favourable circumstances, but who, except a German or a Turk,
ever conceived of estabhshing one right in the field of battle ?
Let us suppose that the Enghsh and the French should assemble
aU their enemy ahens, march them to the front, and place them
in a camp in No Man's Land, directly in the fire of both armies.
That was precisely the kind of " concentration camp " which
the Turks and Germans now intended to estabhsh for the resident
ahens of Constantinople — for my talk with Wangenheim left no
doubt in my mind that the Germans were parties to the plot.
They feared that the land attack on the Dardanehes would
succeed, just as they had feared that the naval attack would
succeed, and they were prepared to use any weapon, even the

i

A Fight for Three Thousand Civilians 159

lives of several thousand non-combatants, in their efforts to
make it a failure.

My talk with VVangenheim produced no results, so far as
enlisting liis support was concerned, but it stiffened my detenTiina-
tion to defeat this enterprise. I now called upon Pallavicini, the
Austrian Ambassador. He at once declared that the proposed
deportation was " inhuman."

" 1 will take up the matter with the Grand Vizier," he said,
" and see if I can stop it."

" But you know that is perfectly useless," I answered. " The
Grand Vizier has no power — he is only a hgurehead. Only one
man can stop this ; that is Enver."

Pallavicini had far hner sensibihties and a tenderer conscience
than Wangenheim, and I had no doubt that he was entirely
sincere in his desire to prevent this crime. But he was a diplomat
of the old Austrian school. Nothing in his eyes was so important
as diplomatic etiquette. As the representative of his Emperor,
propriety demanded that he should conduct all his negotiations
with the Grand Vizier, who was also at that time Minister of
Foreign Aftairs. He never discussed State matters with Talaat
and Enver — indeed, he had only limited oflicial relations with
these men, the real rulers of Turkey. And now the saving of
3,000 lives was not, in Pailavicini's eyes, any reason why he
should disregard the traditional routine of diplomatic intercourse.

" I must go strictly according to rules in tliis matter," he said.
And, in the goodness of his heart, he did speak to Said Halim.
Following this example, VVangenheim also spoke to the Grand
Vizier. In Wangenheim 's case, however, the protest was merely
intended for the official record.

" You may fool some people," I told the German Ambassador,
" but you know that speaking to the Grand Vizier in this matter
is as inconsequential as shouting in the air."

However, there was one member of the diplomatic coi"ps who
worked whole-heartedly on behalf of the threatened foreigners.
Tliis was M. Kolouchett, the Bulgarian Minister. As soon as he
heard of this latest Turco-German outrage, he immediately came
to me with offers of assistance. He did not propose to waste liis
time by a protest to the Grand Vizier, but announced his intention
of going immediately to the source of authority, Enver imnself.
Kolouchefl was an extremely important man at that particular
time, for Bulgaria was then neutral and both sides were anghng
for her support.

Meanwliile Bedri and his minions were busy arresting all the
doomed EngUsh and French. The deportation was arranged to

i6o Secrets of the Bosphorus

take place on Thursday morning. On Wednesday the excitement
reached the hysterical stage. It seemed as if the whole foreign
population of Constantinople had gathered at the American
Embassy. Scores of weeping women and haggard men assembled
in front and at the side of the building ; more than three hundred
gained personal access to my office, hanging desperately upon the
Ambassador and his staff. Many almost seemed to think that I
personally held their fates in my hand ; in their agony of spirit
some even denounced me, insisting that I was not exerting all my
powers on their behalf. Whenever I left my office and passed
into the hall I was almost mobbed by scores of terror-stricken and
dishevelled mothers and wives. The nervous tension was
frightful ; I seized the telephone, called up Enver, and demanded
an interview.

He rephed that he would be happy to receive me on Thursday.
By this time, however, the prisoners would already have been on
their way to Gallipoli.

" No," I replied, " I must see you this afternoon."
Enver made all kinds of excuses ; he was busy, he had
appointments scheduled for the whole day.

" I presume you want to see me about the English and
French," he said. " If that is so, I can tell you now that it will
be useless. Our minds are made up. Orders have been issued
to the police to gather them all by to-night and to ship them
down to-morrow morning."

I still insisted that I must see him that afternoon, and he still |
attempted to dodge the interview.

" My time is all taken," he said. " The Council of Ministers I
sits at four o'clock, and the meeting is to be a very important one
I can't absent myself."

Emboldened by the thought of the crowds of women that
were flooding the whole Embassy, I decided on an altogether
unprecedented move.

" I shall not be denied an interview," I replied. " I shall
come up to the Council Room at four o'clock. If you refuse to
receive me then, I shall insist on going into the Council Room and
discussing the matter with the whole Cabinet. I shall be
interested to learn whether the Turkish Cabinet will refuse to
receive the American Ambassador."

It seemed to me that I could ahnost hear Enver gasp over
the telephone. I presume few responsible Ministers of any
country have ever had such an astounding proposition made to

them.

" If you will meet me at the SubUme Porte at 3.30," he

A Fight for Three Thousand Civilians i6i

answered, after a considerable pause, " I shall arrange to see
you."

When I reached the Sublime Porte I was told that the
< Bulgarian Minister was having a protracted conference with
Enver. Naturally, I was willing to wait, for I knew what the
two men were discussing. Presently M. Koloucheff came out ;
his face was tense and anxious, clearly revealing the ordeal
through which he had just passed.

"It is perfectly hopeless," he said to me. " Nothing will
move Enver ; he is absolutely determined that this thing shall
go through. I cannot wish you good luck, for you will have
none."

The meeting which followed between Enver and myself was

the most momentous I had had up to that time. We discussed

the fate of the foreigners for nearly an hour. I found Enver in

, one of his most poHte but most unyielding moods. He told me

: before I began that it was useless to talk — that the matter was a

'closed issue. But I insisted on telHng him what a splendid

impression Turkey's treatment of her enemies had made on the

outside world. " Your record in this matter is better than that

of ^ny other beUigerent country," I said. " You have not put

them into concentration camps, you have let them stay here and

continue their ordinary business, just as before. You have done

this in spite of strong pressure to act otherwise. Why do you

destroy all the good effect this has produced by now making such

a fatal mistake as you propose ? "

But Enver insisted that the Allied fleets were bombarding
unfortified towns, killing women, children, and wounded men.

" We have warned them through you that they must not do
this," he said, " but they don't stop."

This statement, of course, was not true, but I could not
persuade Enver that he was wrong. He expressed great
appreciation for all that I had done, and regretted for my sake
that he could not accept my advice. I told him that the
foreigners had suggested that I threaten to give up the care of
British and French interests.

" Nothing would suit us better," he quickly replied. " The
Dnly difficulty we have with you is when you come around and
DOther us with Enghsh and French affairs."

I asked him if I had ever given him any advice that had led
them into trouble. He graciously repUed that they had never
fQt made a mistake by following my suggestions.

" Very well, take my advice in this case, too," I repHed.
' You will find later that you have made no mistake by doing

M

i62 • Secrets of the Bosphorus

so. I tell you that it is my positive opinion that your Cabinet
is committing a terrible error by taking this step."

" But I have given orders to this effect," Enver answered.
" I cannot countermand them. If I did, my whole influence
with the Army would go. Once having given an order I never
change it. My own wife asked me to have her servants exempted
from military service, and I refused. The Grand Vizier asked
exemption for his secretary, and I refused him, because I had
given orders. I never revoke orders, and I shall not do it in tliis
case. If you can show me some way in which this order can be
carried out, and your proteges still saved, I shall be glad to
listen."

I had already discovered one of the most conspicuous traits
in the Turkish character : its tendency to compromise and to
bargain. Enver's request for a suggestion now gave me an
opportunity to play on this characteristic.

" All right," I said. " I think I can. I should think you
could still carry out your orders without sending all the French
and English residents down. If you would send only a few you
would still win your point. You could still maintain disciplinei
in the Army, and these few would be as strong a deterrent to the
AUied fleet as sending all."

It seemed to me that Enver almost eagerly seized upon this
suggestion as a way out of his dilemma.

" How many will you let me send ? " he asked quickly. The
moment he put this question I knew that I had carried my point.

" I would suggest that you take twenty Enghsh and twenty
French — fortj^ in all."

" Let me have fifty," he said.

" AU right, we won't haggle over ten," I answered. " But
you must make another concession. Let me pick out the fifty
who are to go."

This agreement had reheved the tension, and now the gracious
side of Enver's nature began to show itself again.

" No, Mr. Ambassador," he replied. " You have prevented
me from making a mistake this afternoon ; now let me prevent
you from making one. If you select the fifty men who are tc
go you will simply make fifty enemies. I think too much of you
to let you do that. I will prove to you that I am your rea
friend. Can't you make some other suggestion ? "

" Why not take the youngest ? They can stand the fatigue
best."

" That is fair," answered ^Enver. He said that Bedri, whc
was in the building at that moment, would select the " victims.'

' ■

A Fight for Three Thousand Civilians 163

This caused me some uneasiness. I knew that Enver's modifica-
tion of his order would displease Bedri, whose hatred of .the
foreigners had sho\\'n itself on many occasions, and that the
head of the police would do his best to find some way of evading
it. So I asked Enver to send for Bedri and give him his new
orders in my presence. Bedri came in, and, as I had suspected,
he did not like the new arrangement at all. As soon as he heard
that he was to take only fifty, and the youngest, he threw up his
hands and began to walk up and down the room.

" No, no, this will never do ! " he said. " I don't want the
youngest ; I must have the notables ! "

But Enver stuck to the arrangement and gave Bedri orders
to take only the 3'oungest men. It was quite apparent that
Bedri needed humouring, so I asked him to ride with me to the
American Embassy, where we would have tea and arrange all
the details. This invitation had an instantaneous effect which
the American mind will have difficulty in comprehending. An
American would regard it as nothing wonderful to be seen
pubUcly riding with an Ambassador, or to take tea at an
Embassy. But this is a distinction which never comes to a
minor functionary, such as a Prefect of Police, in the Turkish
capital. Possibly I lowered the dignity of my office in extending
this invitation to Bedri — Pallavicini would probably have
thought so — but it certainly paid, for it made Bedri more pliable
than he would otherwise have been.

When we reached the Embassy we found the crowds still
there, awaiting the results of my intercession. When I told the
[besiegers that only fift}^ had to go, and these the youngest, they
seemed momentarily stupefied. They could not understand it
at first ; they believed that I might obtain some modification of
the order, but nothing like this. Then, as the truth dawned upon
them, I found myself in the centre of a crowd that had apparently
gone momentarily insane, this time not from grief, but from joy.
iWomen, the tears streaming down their faces, insisted on throw-
ing themselves on their knees, seizing both my hands, and
[covering them with kisses. Mature men, despite my violent
protestations, persisted in hugging me and kissing me on both
cheeks. For several minutes I struggled with this crowd,
embarrassed by its demonstrations of gratitude, but finally 1
succeeded in breaking away and secreting myself and Bedri in an
inner room.

" Can't I have a few notables ? " he asked.

" I'li give you just one," I replied.

" Can't I have three ? " he asked again.

i6_( Secrets of the Bosphorus

" You can have all who are under fifty," I answered.

But that did not satisfy him, as there was not a solitary
person of distinction under that- age limit. Bedri really had his
eye on Messieurs Weyl, Rey, and Dr. Frew. But I had one
" notable " up my sleeve whom I was willing to concede. Dr.
Wigram, an Anglican clergyman, one of the most prominent men
in the foreign colony, had pleaded with me, asking that he might
be permitted to go with the hostages and furnish them such
consolation- as religion could give them. I knew that nothing
would delight Dr. Wigram more than to be thrown as a sop to
Bedri 's passion for " notables."

" Dr. Wigram is the only notable you can have," I said to
Bedri. So he accepted him as the best that he could do in that
line.

Mr. Hoffman Philip, fhe ConseiUer of the American Embassy
— ^now American Minister to Colombia — had already expressed a
desire to accompany the hostages, so that he migh't minister to
their comfort. This was nothing new in the manifestation of a fine
hmnanitarian spirit in Mr. Philip. Although not in good health,
Mr. Philip had returned to Constantinople after Turkey had
entered the war in order that he might assist me in the work of
caring for the refugees. Through aU that arduous period he
constantly displayed that S57mpathy for the unfortunate, the
sick, and the poor which is innate in his character. Though it
was somewhat irregular for a representative of the Embassy to
engage in such a hazardous enterprise as this one, Mr. Philip
pleaded so earnestly that finally I reluctantly gave my consent.
I also obtained permission for Mr. Arthur RuU and Mr. Henry
West Suydam, of the Brooklyn Eagle, to accompany the party.

At the end Bedri had to have his little joke. Though the
fifty were informed that the boat for Galhpoli would leave the
next morning at six o'clock, Bedri, with his police, visited their;
houses at midnight, and routed them all out of bed. The crowd
that assembled at the dock the next morning looked somewhat
weatherbeaten and worse for wear. Bedri was there, superin-
tending the whole proceeding, and when he came up to me he
good-naturedly reproached me again for letting him have only
one " notable." In the main he behaved very decently, though
he could not refrain from telling the hostages that the British
aeroplanes were dropping bombs on Gallipoli ! Of the twenty
five " Englishmen " assembled, there were only two who had
been bom in England, and, of the twenty -five " Frenchmen,"
only two who had been born in France ! They carried satchels
containing food and other essentials, their assembled relatives

A Fight for Three Thousand Civilians 165

had additional bundles, and Mrs. Morgenthau sent several large
(Mses of food to the ship. The parting of these young men with
their families was affecting, but they all stood it bravely.

I returned to the Embassy, somewhat wearied by the excite-
ment of the last few days and in no particularly gracious humour
for the honour which now awaited mc. For I had been there
only a few minutes when His Excellency the German Ambassa-
dor was announced. Wangenheim discussed commonplaces for
a few minutes and then approached the real object of liis call.
He asked me to telegraph to Washington that he had been
" helpful " in getting the number of the GallipoU hostages
reduced to fifty ! In view of the actual happenings, this request
was so preposterous that I almost laughed in his face. I had
known that, in going through the form of speaking to the Grand
Vizier, Wangenheim had been manufacturing an aUbi for future
use, but I had not expected him to fall back upon it so soon.

".Well," said Wangenheim, " at least telegraph your Govern-
ment that I didn't ' hetz ' the Turks in this matter."

The German verb " hetzen " means about the same as the
English " sic," in the sense of inciting a dog. I was in no mood
to give Wangenheim a clean bill of health, and told liim so. In
fact, I specifically reported to Wasliingt,on that he had refused
to help me. A day or two afterward Wangenheim called me on
the telephone and began to talk in an excited and angry tone.
' His Government had wired him about my telegram to Washing-
1 ' >n. I told him that if he desired credit for assistance in raatter.S
uf this kind he should really exert himself and do something.

The hostages had an uncomfortable time at Gallipoli ; they
were put into two wooden houses, with no beds, and no food
except that which they had brought themselves. The days and
[ nights were made wretched by the abundant vermin that is a
commonplace in Turkey. Had Mr. Phihp not gone with them,
they would have suffered seriously. After the unfortunates had
been there for a few days I began work with Enver again to get
them back. Sir Edward Grey, then British Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, had requested our State Department to send me a message
with the request that I present it to Enver and his fellow
Ministers. Its purport was that the British Government would
hold them personally responsible for any injury to the hostages.
I presented this message to Enver on May gth. I had seen
Enver in many moods, but the unbridled rage which Sir Edward's
admonition now caused was something entirely new. As I read
the telegram his face became livid, and he absolutely lost control
of himself. The European polish which Eaver had sedulously

1 66 Secrets of the Bosphorus

acquired dropped like a mask ; I now saw him for what he really
was — a savage, blood-thirsty Turk.

" They will not come back ! " he shouted. " I shall let them
stay there until they rot !

'" I would like to see those English touch me ! " he continued.
I saw that the method which I had adopted with Enver, that of
persuasion, was the only possible way of handling him. I tried
to soothe the Minister now, and, after a while, he quieted down.

" But don't ever threaten me again ! " he said.

After spending a week at Gallipoh, the partj' returned. The
Turks had moved their military headquarters from Gallipoli, and
the English fleet, therefore, ceased to bombard it. AH came
back in good condition and were welcomed home with great
enthusiasm.

CHAPTER XX

MORE ADVENTURES OF .THE FOREIGN RESIDENTS

The Gallipoli deportation gives some idea of. my difficulties in
attempting to fulfil my duty as the representative of Allied
interests in the Ottoman Empire. Yet, despite these occasional
outbursts of hatred, in the main the Turkish officials themselves
behaved very well. They had promised me at. the beginning
that they would treat their ahcn enemies decently, and would
permit them either to remain in Turkey, and follow their accus-
tomed occupations, or to leave the Empire. They apparently
beheved that the world would judge them, after the v/ar was over,
not by the way they treated their own subject peoples, but by
the way they treated the subjects of the enemy Powers. The
result was that a Frenchman, an Enghshman, or an Italian
enjoyed far greater security in Turkey than an Armenian, a
Greek, or a Jew. Yet against this disposition to be decent a
persistent malevolent force was constantly manifesting itself.

In a letter to the State Department I described the influence
that was working against foreigners in Turkey. " The German
Ambassador," I wrote in substance, " keeps pressing on the Turks
the advisabihty both of repressive measures and of detaining as
hostages the subjects of the belhgerent Powers. I have had to
encounter the persistent opposition of my German colleague in
endeavouring to obtain permission for the departure of the
subjects of the nationahties under our protection."

Now and then the Turkish officials would retahate upon one
of their enemy ahens, usually in reprisal for some injury, or
fancied injury, inflicted on their own subjects in enemy countries.
Such acts gave rise to many exciting episodes, some tragical, some
farcical, all iDuminating in the hght they shed upon Turkish
character and upon Teutonic methods.

One afternoon I was sitting with Talaat, discussing routine
matters, when his telephone rang.

" Pour vous," said the Minister, handing me the receiver.

It was one of my secretaries. He told me that Bedri had
arrested Sir Edwin PearS/ had thrown him into prison, and had
seized all his papers. Sir Edwin was one of the bcsl-known
British residents of Constantinople. For forty years he had

iC8 Secrets of the Bosphoruis

I

practised law in the Ottoman capital ; he had also written much
for the Press during that period, and had published several books
which had given him fame as an authority on Oriental history
and politics. He was about eighty years old and of venerable!
and distinguished appearance. When the war started I had
exacted a special promise from Talaat and Bedri that in no event i
should Sir Edwin Pears and Prof. Van Millingen, of Robert College,
be disturbed. This telephone message which I now received —
curiously enough, in Talaat's presence — seemed to indicate that
this promise had been broken.

I now turned to Talaat and spoke in a manner that made no
attempt to conceal my displeasure.

" Is this all your promises are worth ? " I asked. " Can't you
find anything better to do than to molest such a respectable old
man as Sir Edwin Pears ? What has he ever done to you ? "

" Come, come, don't get excited," rejoined Talaat. " He's
only been in prison for a few hours, and I will see that, he is
released."

He tried to get Bedri on the wire, but failed. By this time I
knew Bedri well enough to understand his method of operation.
When Bedri really wished to be reached on the telephone he was
the most accessible man in the world ; when his presence at the
other end of the wire might prove embarrassing the most
painstaking search could not reveal his whereabouts. As Bedri
had given me his solemn promise that Sir Edwin should not be
disturbed, this was an occasion when the Prefect of Police pre-
ferred to keep himself inaccessible.

" I shall stay in this room until you get Bedri," I now told
Talaat. The big Turk took the situation good-humouredly. We
waited a considerable period, but Bedri succeeded in avoiding an
encounter. Finally I called up one of my secretaries and told
him to go out and hunt for the missing Prefect.

" Tell Bedri," I said, " that I have Talaat under arrest in his
own ofhce, and that I shall not let him leave it until he has been
able to instruct Bedri to release Sir Edwin Pears."

Talaat was greatly enjoying the comedy of the situation. He
knew Bedri's ways even better than I did, and he was much
interested in seeing whether I sh*ould succeed in finding him.
But in a few moments the telephone rang. It was Bedri. I told
Talaat to tell him that I was going to the prison in my own
automobile to get Sir Edwin Pears.

" Please don't let him do that," replied Bedri. " Such an
occurrence would make me personal!}' ridiculous and destroj- m}-
influence."

More Adventures of the Foreign Residents i6g

"Very well," I replied, "I shall wait until 6.15. If Sir
Edwin is not restored to his family by that time I shall go to
the Police Headquarters and get him."
B As I returned to the Embassy I stopped at the Pears' residence
and attempted to soothe Lady Pears and her daughter.

" If your father is not here at 6.15," I told Miss Pears,
" please let me know immediately."

Promptly at that time my telephone rang. It was Miss
Pears, who informed me that Sir Edwin had just reached home.

The next day Sir Edwin called at the Embassy to thank me
for my efforts on his behalf. He told me that the German Am-
bassador had also worked for his release. This latter statement
naturally surprised me ; I knew no one else had had a chance
i to do anything, as everything transpired while I was in Talaat's
I office. Half an hour afterward I met Wangenheim himself ;
he dropped in at Mrs. Morgenthau's reception. I referred to the
Pears case and asked him whether he had used any influence in
* securing his release. M}^ question astonished him greatly.

" What ? " he said. " I helped you to secure his release !
Der cite gmmer ! (The old rascal.) Why, I was the man who
had him arrested !

" What have 3^ou got against him ? " I asked.

" In 1876," Wangenheim replied, " that man was pro-Russian
and against Turkey ! "

Such are the long memories of the Germans ! ^ In 1876 Sir
Edwin wrote several articles for the London Daily News des-
cribing the Bulgarian massacres. At that time the reports of
these fiendish atrocities were generally disbelieved, and Sir
Edwin's letters placed all the incontrovertible facts before the
English-speaking peoples and had much to do with the emancipa-
tion of Bulgaria from Turkish rule. This act of humanity and
journahstic statesmanship had brought Sir Edwin much fame,
and now, after forty years, Germany proposed to punish him by
casting him into a Turkish prison ! Again the Turks proved
more considerate than their German allies, for they not only
gave Sir Edwin Ms liberty and his papers, but permitted him to
return to London.

Bedri, however, was a little mortified at my successful
intervention in tliis instance, and decided to even up the score.
Next to Sir Edwin Pears, the most prominent English-speaking
barrister in Constantinople was Dr. Mizzi, a Maltese, seventy
years old. The ruling powers had a grudge against him, for he
was the proprietor of the Levant Heyald, a paper which had
published articles criticising the Union and Progress Committee.

170 Secrets of the Bosphorus

On the very night of the Pears episode Bedri went to Dr. Mizzi's
house at eleven o'clock, routed the old gentleman out Of bed,
arrested him, and placed him on a train for Angora, in Asia
Minor. As a terrible epidemic of typhus was raging in Angora,
this was not a desirable place of residence for a man of Dr. Mizzi's
years. The next morning, when I heard of it for the first time,
Dr. Mizzi was well on the way to his place of exile.

" This time I got ahead of you ! " said Bedri, with a trium-
phant laugh. He Was as good-natured about it and as pleased
as a boy. At last he had " put one over " on the American
Arnbassador, who had been unguardedly asleep in his bed when
this old man had been railroaded to a fever camp in Asia Minor.

But Bedri's success was not so complete, after' all. At my
request Talaat had Dr. Mizzi sent to Konia, instead of to Angora.
There one of the American missionaries. Dr. Dodd, had a splendid
hospital. I arranged that Dr. Mizzi could have a nice room in
this building, and here he lived for several months, with congenial
associates, good food, a healthy atmosphere, all the books he
wanted, and one thing without v/hich he would have been
utterly miserable — a piano. So I still thought that the honours
between Bedri and myself v/ere a Httle better than even.

When the Enghsh authorities arrested the Turkish Consul
and his staff at Saloniki, the Turks promptly imprisoned nine
leading members of the French colony. It took me nearly three
weeks to have them released. Early in January, 1916, word was
received that the Enghsh were maltreating Turkish war prisoners
in Egypt. Soon afterward I received letters from two AustraUans,
Commander Stoker and Lieutenant Fitzgerald, teUing me that
they had been confined for eleven days in a miserable, damp
dungeon at the War Office, with no companions except a mon-
strous swarm of vermin. These two naval officers had come; to
Constantinople in submarines which had made the daring trip
from England, dived under the mines in the Dardanelles, and
arrived in the Mannora, where for several weeks they terrorised
and dominated tliis inland sea, practically putting an end to all
shipping.

The particular submarine in which mj^ correspondents
arrived, the £15, had been caught in the Dardanelles, and its
crew and officers had been sent to the Turkish mihtary prison at
x\fium Kara Hissar in Asia Minor. When news of the alleged
maltreatment of Turkish prisoners in Egypt was received, lots
were drawn among these prisoners to see which two should be
taken to Constantinople and imprisoned in reprisal. Stoker and
Fitzgerald drew the unlucky numbers, and had been lying in this

More Adventures of the Foreign Residents 171

tefrible underground cell for eleven 'days. I immediately took
the matter up with Enver and suggested that a neutral doctor
and officer examine the Turks in Egypt and report on the truth
1 the stories. Wc promptly received word that the report was
i.ilie, and that, as a matter of fact, the Turkish prisoners in
English hands were receiving excellent treatment.

About tliis time I called on Monsignor Dolci, the Apostolic
Delegate in Tm-key. He happened to refer to a Lieutenant
Fitzgerald, who, he said, was then a prisoner of war at Afium
Kara Hissar.

" I am much interested in him," said Monsignor Dolci,
" because he is engaged to the daughter of the British Minister to
the Vatican. I spoke to Enver about him, and he promised that
he would receive special treatment."

" What is his first name ? " I asked. • '

"Jeffrey."

" Ho's receiving 'special treatment' indeed," I answered.
" Do you know that he is in a dungeon in Constantinople this
very moment ? " •

Naturally M. Dolci was much disturbed, but I reassured him,
saying that his protege would be released in a few days.

" You see how shamefully you treated these young men," I
now said to Enver ; " you should do something to make amends."

" All right; what would you suggest ? "

Stoker and Fitzgerald were prisoners of war, and, according
to the usual rule, would have been sent back to the prison camp
after being released from their dungeon. I now proposed that'
Enver should give them a vacation of eight days in Constanti-
nople. He entered into the spirit of the occasion, and the men were
released. They certainly presented a sorry sight ; they had
spent twenty-five days in the dungeon, v/ith no chance to bathe-
or to shave, with no change of hnen or any of the decencies of
life! But Mr. Pliilip took charge, furnished them the necessaries,
and in a brief period vv^e had before us two young and handsome
British naval officers. Their eight days' freedom turned out to
be a triumphal procession, notwithstanding that they were
always accompanied by an English-speaking Turkish- oiacer.
Monsignor Dolci and the American Embassy entertained them at
dinner, and they had a pleasant visit to the Gfrls' College. When
the time came to return to their prison camp, the young men
declared that they would be glad to spend another month in
dungeons if they could have a corresponding period of freedom
in the city when hberated.

In spite of all that has happened I shall always have a kindly

172 Secrets of the Bosphorus

feeling toward Enver for his treatment of Fitzgerald. I told the
Minister of War about the lieutenant's engagement.

" Don't you think he's been" punished enough ? " I asked.
" Why don't you let the boy go home and marry his sweet-
h'eart ? " , ' , .

The proposition immediately, appealed to Enver 's senti^

mental side.

" I'll do it," he repHed, " if he will give me his word of honour
not to fight against Turkey any more."

Fitzgerald naturally gave this promise, and so his com-
paratively brief stay in the dungeon had the result of freeing him
from imprisonment and restoring him to happiness. As poor
Stoker had formed no romantic attachments that would have
justified a similar plea in his case, he had to go back to the prison
in Asia Minor. He did this, however, in a genuinely sporting
spirit that was worthy of the best traditions of the British Navy.

CHAPTER XXI

* , BULGARIA ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

' The failure of the Allied fleet at the Dardanelles did not definitely
settle the fate of Constantinople. Naturally the Turks and the
Germans felt immensely relieved when the fleet sailed away.
But they were by no means entirely easy in their mind. The
most direct road to the ancient capital still remained available
to their enemies.

In early September, 1915, one of the most influential Germans
in the city gave me a detailed explanation of the prevaiUng
mihtary situation. He summed up the whole matter in the
single phrase :

" We cannot hold the Dardanelles without the military
support of Bulgaria."

This meant, of course, that unless Bulgaria adopted the cause
of Turkey and the Central Powers, the Gallipoli expedition'
would succeed, Constantinople would fall, the Turkish Empire
. would collapse, Russia would be recreated as an economic and
military power, and the war, in a comparatively brief period,
would terminate in a victory for the Entente. Not improbably
the real neutraUty of Bulgaria would have had the same result.
It is thus perhaps not too much to say that, in September and
October of 1915, the Bulgarian Government held the duration of
the war in its hands.

This fact is of such pre-eminent importance that I can hardly
emphasise it too strongly. I suggest that my readers take down*
the map of a part of the world with which they are not very
familiar — that of the Balkan States, as determined by the
Treaty of Bucharest. All that remains of European Turkey is
a small irregular area stretching, perhaps, one hundred miles west
of Constantinople. The nation whose land is contiguous every-
where to Turkey is Bulgaria. The main railroad line to Western
Europe starts at Constantinople and runs through Bulgaria, .by
way of Adrianople, Phillipopolis, and Sofia. At that time
Bulgaria could create an army of 500,000 well-trained, completely
organised troops. Should these once start marching toward
Constantinople there was practically nothing to bar their way.
Turkey had a considerable army, it is true, but it was then

174 Secrets of the Bosphorus

finding plenty of emploj/ment repelling the Allied forces at the
Dardanelles and the Russians in the Caucasus. With Bulgaria
hostile, Turkey could obtain neither troops nor munitions from
Germany. Turkey would have been completely isolated, and,
. under the pounding of Bulgaria, would have disappeared as a
military force, and as a European State, in one very brief
campaign.

I wish to direct particular attention to this railroad, for it
was, after all, the main strategic prize for wliich Germany was
contending. After leaving Sofia, it crosses north-eastern Serbia,
the most important stations being at Nish and Belgrade. From
the latter point it crosses the River Save and, later, the River
Danube, and thence pursues its course to Budapest and Vienna
and thence to Berlin. Practically all the military operations
that took place in the Balkans in 1915-16 had for their ultimate
object the possession of this road. Once holding this line.
Turkey and Germany would no longer be separated ; economic-
ally and militarily they would become a unit.

The Dardanelles, as I have described, was the Hnk that
connected Russia with her alHes ; with this passage closed,
Russia's collapse rapidly followed. The valley of the Morava
and the Maritza, .in" which this railroad is laid, constituted
for Turkey a kind of waterless Dardanelles. In her possession
it gave her access to her allies ; in ithe possession of her
enemies, the Ottoman Empire would go to pieces. Only the
accession of Bulgaria to the Teutonic cause could give the
Turks and Germans this advantage. As soon as Bulgaria
entered, that section of the railroad extending to the Serbian
frontier would at once become available. If Bulgaria joined the
Central Powers as an active participant, the conquest of Serbia
would inevitably foUov/, and tliis would give the link extending
'from Nish to Belgrade to the Teutonic Powers. Thus the Bul-
garian alUance would make Constantinople a suburb of Berlin,
place all the resources of the Krupps at the disposal of the
Turkish Army, make inevitable the failure of the Allied attack
on GaUipoh, and lay the foundation of that Oriental Empire
which had been for thirty years the mainspring of German
policy.

It is thus apparent what my German friend meant when, in
early September, he said that, " without Bulgaria we cannot
hold the Dardanelles." Everybody sees this so clearly now
that there is a prevalent belief that Germany had arranged this
Bulgarian alliance before the outbreak of the war. On this
point I have no information. That the Bulgarian King and the

Bulgaria on the Auction Block i

/D

Kaiser may have arranged this co-operation in advance is not
unHkely. But we must not make the mistake of bcHeving that
'this settled the matter, for the experiences of the last few years
show us that treaties are not always lived up to. Whether
there was an understanding or not, I know that the Turkish
officials and the Germans by no means regarded it as settled
that Bulgaria would take their side. In their talks with me
they constantly showed thfe utmost apprehension over the
outcome ; and at one time the fear was general that Bulgaria
would take the side of the Entente.

I had my first personal contact with the Bulgarian negotia-
tions in the latter part of May, when I was informed that M.
Koloucheff, the Bulgarian Minister, had notified Robert College
that the Bulgarian students could not remain in Constantinople
until the end of the college year, but would have to return home
by June 5th. The College for Women had also received word
that all the Bulgarian girls must return at the same time. Both
these American institutions had man}/ Bulgarian students, in
most cases splendid representatives of • their country ; it is
through these colleges, indeed, that the distant United States
and Bulgaria had estabhshed such friendly relations. But they
had never had such an experience before.

Everybody was discussing the meaning of this move. It
seemed quite apparent. The chief topic of conversation at that
time was Bulgaria. Would she enter the war ? If so, on which
side vv'ould she cast her fortunes ? One day it was reported that
she would join the Entente ; the next day that she had decided
to ally herself with the Central Powers. The prevailing behef
was that she was actively bargaining with both sides and looldng
for the highest terms. Should Bulgaria go with the Entente,
however, it would be undesirable to have any Bulgarian subjects
marooned in Turkey. As the boys and girls in the American
colleges usually came from important Bulgarian famihes — one
of the girls was the daughter of General Ivanoff, who led the Bul-
garian Armies in the Balkan Wars — the Bulgarian Government
might naturally have a particular interest in their safety.

The conclusion reached by most people was that Bulgaria
had decided to take the side of the Entente. The news rapidly
spread throughout Constantinople. The Turks were particularly
impressed. Dr. Patrick, President of Constantinople College,
arranged a special hurried gathering for her Bulgarian students,
which I attended. It was a sad occasion, more hke a
funeral than the festivity that usually took place. I found the
Bulgarian girls almost in a hysterical state ; they aU believed

176 Secrets of thjg Bosphorus

•

that war was coming immediately, and that they were being
bundled home merely to prevent them from falling into the
clutches of the Turks. My sjonpathies were so aroused that we
brought them down to the American Embassy, -where we all
spent a dehghtful evening. After dinner the girls dried their
eyes and entertained us by singing many of their beautiful
Bulgarian songs, and what had started as a mournful day thus
had a happy ending. Next morning the girls all left for Bulgaria.

A few weeks afterwards the Bulgarian Minister told me that
the Government had summoned the students home merely for
poUtical effect. There was no immediate likelihood of war, he
said, but Bulgaria wished Germany and Turkey to understand
that there was still a chance that she might join the Entente.
Bulgaria, as all of us suspected, was apparently on the auction
block.

The one fixed fact in the Bulgarian position was the
determination to have Macedonia. Everything, said Koloucheff,
depended upon that. His conversations reflected the general
Bulgarian view that Bulgaria had fairly won this territory in the
■ first Balkan War, that the Powers had unjustly permitted her to
be deprived of it, that it was Bulgarian by race, language,, and
tradition, and that there could be no permanent peace in the
Balkans until it was returned to its rightful possessors. But
Bulgaria insisted on more than a promise, to be redeemed after
the war was over ; she demanded immediate occupation. Once
Macedonia was turned over to Bulgaria, she would join her
forces to those of the Entente. There were two great prizes in
the game then being played in the Balkans : one' was Macedonia,
which Bulgaria must have, and the other Constantinople, which
Russia was determined to get. Bulgaria was entirely willing
that Russia should have Constantinople if she herself could
obtain Macedonia.

I was given to understand that the Bulgarian General Staff
had plans all completed for the capture of Constantinople, and
that they had shown these plans to the Entente. Their pro-
gramme called for a Bulgarian army of 300,000 men advancing
upon Constantinople, twenty-three days from the time the signal
to start should be given — but promises of Macedonia would not
sirffice ; they must have possession.

Bulgaria recognised the difficulties of the Allied position.
She did not beUeve that Serbia and Greece would voluntarily
surrender Macedonia, nor did she believe that the Allies would
dare to take this country aWay from them by force. In that
event, she thought that there vas a danger that Serbia might

^

Bulgaria on the Auction Block 177

make a separate peace with the Central Powers. On the other
hand, Bulgaria would object if Serbia received Bosnia and
Herzegovina as compensation for the loss of Macedonia ; she
felt that an enlarged Serbia would be a constant menace to her,
and hence a future menace to peace in the Balkans. Thus the
situation was extremely difhcult and comphcated.

One of the best informed men in Turkey was Paul Weitz,
the correspondent of the Frankjiirter Zeiiting. Weitz was more
J than a journaUst ; he had spent thirty years in Constantinople,
\ had the most intimate personal knowledge of Turkish affairs,
and he was the confidant and adviser of the German Embassy.
His duties there were really semi-diplomatic. Weitz had really
been one of the most successful agencies in the German penetra-
tion of Turkey ; it was common talk that he knew every im-
portant man in the Turkish Empire, the best way to approach
him, and his price. I had several talks with Weitz about
Bulgaria during those critical August and early September days.
He said many times that it was not at all certain that she would
join her forces with Gennany. Yet on September 7th Weitz
, came to me with important news. The situation had changed
overnight. Baron Neurath, the Conseiller of the German
Embassy at Constantinople, had gone to Sofia, and, as a result
: of his visit, an agreement had been signed that would make
I Bulgaria Germany's ally.

Germany, said Weitz, had won over Bulgaria by doing

■ something which the Entente had not been able and willing to do.

I It had secured her the immediate possession of a piece of coveted

: territory. Serbia had refused to give Bulgaria immediate

J possession of Macedonia ; Turkey, on the other hand, had now

surrendered a piece of the Ottoman Empire. The amount of

land in question, it is true, was apparently insignificant, yet it

had great strategic advantages and represented a genuine

-a orifice by Turkey.

The Maritza River, a few miles north of Enos, bends
to the east, to the north, and then to the west again,
< reating a block of territory with an area of nearly 1,000
square miles, including the important cities of Demotica, Kara-
ngatch, and half of Adrianople. What makes this land par-
ticularly important is that it contains about fifty miles of the
railroad which runs from Dedeagatch to Sofia. All this rail-
I oad, that is except this fifty miles, is laid in Bulgarian territory ;
this short strip, extending through Turkey, cuts Bulgaria's
commimications with the Mediterranean. Naturally Bulgaria
yearned for this strip of land, and Turkey now handed it over

N

lyU Secrets of the Bosphofus

to her. This cession cleared up the whole Balkan situation and
made Bulgaria an ally of Turkey and the Central Powers.
Besides the railroad, Bulgaria obtained that part of Adrianople
which lay west of the Maritza River. In addition, of course,
Bulgaria was to receive Macedonia as soon as that province
could be occupied by Bulgaria and her allies.

I vividly remember the exultation of Weitz when tliis agree-
ment was signed.

" It's all settled," he told me. " Bulgaria has decided to
join us. It was all arranged last night at Sofia."

The Turks also were greatly relieved. For the first time
they saw the way out of their troubles. The Bulgarian arrange-
ment, Enver told me, had taken a tremendous weight off their
minds.

" We Turks are entitled to the credit," he said, " of bringing
Bulgaria in on the side of the Central Powers. She would never
have come to our assistance if we hadn't given her that slice of
land. By surrendering it immediately, and not waiting until the
end of the war, we showed our good faith. It was very hard for
us to do it, of course, especially to give up part of the city of
Adrianople, but it was worth the price. We really surrendered
this territory in exchange for Constantinople, for if Bulgaria had
not come in on our side we v/ould have lost this city. Just
think how enormously we have improved our position. We have
had to keep more tlian 200,000 men at the Bulgarian frontier, to
protect us against any possible attack from that quarter. We
can now transfer all these troops to the GaUipoU Peninsula, and
thus make it absolutely impossible that the AlHes' expedition
can succeed. We are also greatly hampered at the Dardanelles
by the lack of ammunition. But Bulgaria, Austria, and Ger-
many are to make a joint attack on Serbia and will completely
control that country in a few weeks, so we shall have a direct
railroad line from Constantinople into Austria and Gi^rmany and
can get all the war supplies which we need. With Bulgaria on
our side no attack can be made on Constantinople from the
north ; we have created an impregnable bulwark against
Russia.

" I do not deny that the situation has caused us great anxiety.
We were afraid that Greece and Bulgaria would join hands, and
that would also bring in Rumania. Then Turkey would have
been lost ; they would have had us between a pair of pincers.
But now we have only one task before us, that is to drive the
Enghsh and French at the Dardanelles into the sea. With aU
the soldiers and all the ammunition which we need, we shall do

Bulgaria on the Auction Block 179

this in a very short time. We gave up that piece of land because
we saw that that was the way to win the war."

The outcome justified Enver's prophecies in almost every
detail. Three months after Bulgaria accepted the Teutonic
bribe the Entente admitted defeat and withdrew its forces from
the Dardanelles, and with this withdrawal Russia, which was
the greatest potential source of strength to the AUied cause, and
the country which, properly organised and supplied, might have
brought the Allies a speedy triumph, disappeared as a vital
factor in the war. When the British and French withdrew from
GaUipoH they turned adrift this huge hulk of a country to
flounder to anarchy, dissolution, and ruin.

The Germans celebrated this great triumph in a way that was
characteristically Teutonic. In their minds, January 17th,
1916, stands out as one of the great dates in the war. There
was great rejoicing in Constantinople, for the first Balkan express
— or, as the Gemians called it, the Balkanzug — was due to
arrive that afternoon. The railroad station was decorated with
flags and flowers, and the whole German and Austrian population
of Constantinople, including the Embassy staffs, assembled to
welcome the incoming train. As it finally rolled into the station,
thousands of " hochs " went up frcm as many raucous throats.

Since that January 17th, 1916, the Balkanzug has run
regularly from Berlin to Constantinople. The Germans beheve
that it is as permanent a feature of the new Germanic Empire
as the hne from Berlin to Hamburg.

CHAPTER XXII

THE TURK REVERTS TO THE ANCESTRAL TYPE

The defeat of the English fleet at the Dardanelles had con-
sequences which the world does not yet completely understand.
The practical effect of the event, as I have said, was to isolate
the Turkish Empire from all the world, excepting Germany and
Austria. England, France, Russia, and Italy, which for a
century had held a threatening hand over the Ottoman Empire,
had now lost all power to influence or control. The Turks now
perceived that a series of dazzhng events had changed them
from cringing dependents of the European Powers into free
agents. For the first time in two centuries they could now live
their national hfe according to their own inchnations and
govern their peoples according to their own will. The first
expression of this rejuvenated national life was an episode
which, so far as I know, is the most terrible in the liistory of the
world. New Turkey, freed from European tutelage, celebrated
its national rebirth by murdering not far from a million of its
own subjects.

I can hardly exaggerate the effect which the repulse of the
AlUed fleet produced upon the Turks. They believed that they
had won the really great decisive battle of the war. For several
centuries, they said, the British fleet had victoriously sailed the
seas, and had now met its first serious reverse at the hands of the
Turks. In the first moments of their pride the Young Turk
leaders now saw visions of the complete resurrection of their
Empire. What had for two centuries been a decaying nation
had suddenly started on a new and glorious Hfe. In their pride
and arrogance the Turks began to look with disdain upon the
people who had taught them what they knew of modern warfare,
and nothing angered them so much as any suggestion that they
owed any part of their success to their German allies.

" Why should we feel any obligation to the Germans ? "
Enver would say to me. " What have they done for us which
compares with what we have done for them ? They have lent
us some money and sent us a few officers, it is true, but see what
we have done ! We have defeated the British fleet — something
which the Germans and no other nation could do. We have

The Turk Reverts to the Ancestral Type i8i

stationed laii;*' armies in the Caucasus, and so have kept busy
large bodies of Russian troops that would have been used on the
Western front. Similarly we have compelled England to keej)
large armies in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and in that way we have
weakened the Allied armies in France. No, the Germans could
never have acliieved their military successes without us ; the
shoe of obligation is entirely on their foot."

This conviction possessed all the leading men in Turkey, and
now began to have a determining effect upcm Turkish national
life and Turkish policy. Essentially the Turk is a bully and a
coward ; he is as brave as a lion when things are going his way, but
cringing, abject, and nerveless when reverses are overwhelming
him. And now that the fortunes of war were apparently favour-
ing the Empire, I began to see an entirely new Turk unfolding
before my eyes. The hesitating and fearful Ottoman, feeling his
way cautiously amid the mazes of European diplomacy, and
seeking opportunities to find an advantage for himself in the
divided counsels of the European Powers, now gave place to an
upstanding, almost dashing, figure, proud and assertive, deter-
mined to live his own hfe and absolutely contemptuous of his
Chiistian foes.

I was really witnessing a remarkable development in race
psychology — an almost classical instance of reversion to type.
The ragged, unkempt Turk of the twentieth century was
vanishing, and in his place was appearing the Turk of the
fourteenth and the fifteenth, the Turk who had swept out
of his Asiatic fastnesses, conquered all the powerful peoples in
his way, and founded in Asia, Africa, and Europe one of the
most extensive empires that history has known. If we are
properly to appreciate this new Talaat and Enver, and the events
which now took place, we must understand the Turk who, under
Osman and his successor, exercised this mighty but devastating
influence in the world. We must realise that the basic fact
underlying the Turkish m.entahty is its utter contempt for all
other races. A fairly insane pride is the element that largely
explains this strange human species. The common term applied
by the Turk to the Christian is " dog," and in his estimation this
is no mere rhetorical figure ; he actually looks upon his European
neighbours as far less worthy of consideration than his own
domestic animals.

" My son," an old Turk once said, " do you see that herd
of swine ? Some are white, some are black, some are large,
some are small ; they differ from each other in some respects,
but thev are all swine. So it is with Christians. Be not

i?2 Secrets of the Bosphorus

deceived, my son. These Cliristians may wear fine clothes, their
women may be very beautiful to look upon ; their skins are
white and splendid ; many of them are very intelligent, and they
build wonderful cities and create what seem to be great States.
But remember that underneath all this dazzling exterior they
are all the same — they are all swine."

I have talked with many of the splendid men and women
whom America has sent as missionaries to Turkey. They tell me
that, in the presence of a Turk, they are always conscious of this
attitude. The Turk ma}-' be obsequiously polite, but there is
invariably an almost unconscious feeling that he is mentally
shrinking from his American friend as something unclean. And
this fundamental conviction for centuries directed the Ottoman
policy toward its subject peoples. This wild horde swept from
the plains of Central Asia and, hke a whirlwind, overwhelmed
the nations of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, conquered Egypt,
Arabia, and practically all of Northern Africa and then poured
into Europe, crushed the Balkan nations, occupied a large part
of Hungary, and even established the outposts of the Ottoman
Empire in the southern part of Russia.

So far as I can discover, the Ottoman Turks had only one great
quality, that of military genius. They had several mihtary leaders
of commanding ability,and the early conquering Turks were brave,
fanatical, and tenacious fighters, just as their descendants are to-
day. I think that these old Turks present the most complete illus-
tration in history of the brigand idea in pohtics. They were lacking
in what we may call the fundamentals of a civilised community.

[They had no alphabet and no art of writing, no books, no poets,
no art, and no architecture ; they built no cities and thus

, estabhshed no orderly state. They knew no law except the rule
of might, and they had practically no agriculture and no in-
dustrial organisation. They were simply wild and marauding

'horsemen, whose one conception of tribal success was to pounce
upon people who were more civiUsed than themselves and
plunder them.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries these tribes
overran the cradle of modern civilisation, which has given
Europe its religion and, to a large extent, its civilisation.
At that time these territories were the seats of many peaceful
and prosperous nations. The Mesopotamian valley supported a
large industrious agricultural population ; Bagdad was one of
the largest and most flourishing cities in existence ; Constan-
tinople had a greater population than Rome, and the Balkan
region and Asia Minor contained several powerful States. Over

The Turk Reverts to the Ancestral Type 183

all this part of the world the Turk now swept like a huge, destruc-
tive force. Mesopotamia in a few years became a desert ; the
great cities of the East were reduced to misery, and the subject
peoples became slaves.

Such graces of civilisation as the Turk has acquired in
five centuries have practically all been taken from the
subject peoples whom he so greatly despises. His religion
comes from the Arabs ; his language has acquired a certain
literary value by borrowing certain Arabic and Persian
elements ; and his writing is Arabic. Constantinople's finest
architectural monument, the Mosque of St. Sophia, was originally
a Christian church, and practically all Turkish architecture is
derived from the Byzantine. The mechanism of business and
industry has always rested in the hands of the subject peoples —
Greeks, Jews, Armenians, and Arabs. The Turks have learned
little of European art or science, they have estabhshed very few
educational institutions, and illiteracy is the prevailing rule.
The result is that poverty has attained a degree of sordidness and
misery in the Ottoman Empire which is almost unparalleled
elsewhere. The Turkish peasant hves in a mud hut in which he
sleeps ; he has no chairs, no tables, no eating utensils, no clothes
except the few scant garments which cover his back and which he
usually wears for many years.

In the course of time these Turks might learn certain tilings
from their European and Arabic neighbours, but there was one
idea which they could never even faintly grasp. They could not
understand that a conquered people were anything except slaves.
When they took possession of a land, they found it occupied by a
certain number of camels, horses, buffaloes, dogs, swine, and
human beings. Of all these living things, the object that
physically most resembled themselves they regarded as the
least important. It became a common saying with them that a
horse or a camel was far more valuable than a man ; these
animals cost money, whereas they could get all the " infidel
Christians " they needed for nothing. The usual name applied
to the Christian was rayah — meaning cattle. It is true that the
early Sultans gave the subject peoples and the Europeans in the
Empire certain rights, but these in themselves really reflected
the contempt in which all non-Moslems were held.

I have already described the " capitulations," under which
foreigners in Turkey had their own courts, prison, post-offices, and
other institutions. Yet the early Sultans gave these privileges not
from a spirit of tolerance, but merely because they looked upon
the Christian nations as unclean, and therefore unfit to have any

184 Secrets of the Bosphorus

contact with the Ottoman administrative and judicial system.
The Sultans similarly erected the several peoples each as the
Greeks and Armenians into separate " millets," or nations, not
because they desired to promote their independence and welfare,
but because they regarded them as vermin, and therefore dis-
qualified for membership in the Ottoman State. The attitude of
the Government toward their Christian subjects was illustrated
by certain regulations which hmited their freedom of action.
The buildings in which Christians lived should not be conspicuous,
and their churches should have no belfry. Christians were not
permitted to ride a horse, for that was the exclusive right of the
noble Moslems. If a Turk in the street should ask a Christian

j to clean his shoes, the latter must do so under penalty of death.

V The Turk had the right to test the sharpness of his sword upon
the neck of any Christian.

One of the most remarkable official documents ever
devised is the burial permit which the Ottoman Govern-
ment used to issue, up to a hundred years ago, for the
interment of its Christian subjects. The following is a Hteral
translation : — " Oh thou irreligious priest, who hast been
expelled from the presence of God, thou that wearest the crown
of the devil and black raiments, so and so of your congregation
of polluted infidels having died — although his desecrated corpse
is not acceptable to the earth, yet as its terrible stench will
become a public nuisance, take the polluted dead one, open a
ditch, throw him in it, trample him under foot, and come back,
thou infidel swine ! "

Imagine a great Government, year in and year out, maintaining
this attitude toward many milhons of its own subjects ! And
for centuries the Turks simply Hved like parasites upon these
overburdened and industrious people. They taxed them to
economic extinction, stole their most beautiful daughters and
forced them into their harems, took Christian male infants by
the hundreds of thousands and brought them up as Moslem
soldiers. I have no intention of describing the terrible vassalage
and oppression that went on for five centuries ; my purpose is
merely to emphasise this innate attitude of the Moslem Turk to
people not of his own race and rehgion— that they are not human
beings with rights, but merely chattels, which may be permitted
to Uve when they promote the interest of their masters, but
which may be pitilessly destroyed when they have ceased to be
useful. This attitude is intensified by a disregard for human
life and an intense delight in physical human suffering which are
the not unusual attributes of primitive peoples.

The Turk Reverts to the Ancestral Type 185

Such were the mental characteristics of the Turk in his days
of niih'tary greatness. In recent times his attitude toward
foreigners and his subject peoples had superficially changed.
His own mihtary decline, and the ease with which the infidel
nations defeated his finest armies, had apparently given the
haughty descendants of Osman a respect at least for their prowess.
The rapid disappearance of his own Empire in a hundred years

I the creation out of the Ottoman Empire of new States like
Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Rumania, and ihe wonderful

i improvement wliich had followed the destruction of the Turkish
yoke in these benighted lands, may have increased the Ottoman
hatred for the unbeliever, but at least they had a certain influence
in opening his eyes to his importance. Many Turks also now
received their education in European universities, they studied
in their professional schools, and they became physicians,
surgeons, lawyers, engineers, and chemists of the modern kind.
However much the more progressive Moslems might despise their
Christian associates, they could not ignore the fact that the
finest things, in this temporal world at least, were the products
, of European and American civilisation. ? And now that one
development of modern history which seemed to be least under-
standable to the Turk began to force itself upon the consciousness
of the more intelligent and progressive. Certain leaders arose
who began to speak surreptitiously of such things as " Con-
stitutionalism," " Liberty." " Self-Government," and to whom
the Declaration of Independence contained certain truths that
might have a value even for Islam. These daring spirits began
to dream of overturning the autocratic Sultan and of substituting
a parliamentary system for his irresponsible rule. I have already
described the lise and fall of this Young Turk movement under
such leaders as Talaat, Enver, Djemal, and their associates in the
Committee ot Union and Progress. The point which I am
emphasising here is that this movement presupposed a complete
transformation of Turkish mentality, especially in its attitude
toward subject peoples. No longer, under the reformed Turkish
State, were Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, and Jews to be regarded
as " filthy Giaours." AU these peoples were henceforth to have
equal rights and equal duties.

A general love-feast now followed the establishment of

! the new regime, and scenes of almost frenzied reconciliation, in
which Turks and Armenians embraced each other pubHcly,
apparently signalised the absolute union of the once an-
tagonistic peoples. The Turkish leaders, such as Talaat
and Enver, visited Christian churches and sent forth prayers of

1 86 Secrets of the Bosphorus

thanksgiving for the new order, and went to Armenian cemeteries
to shed tears of retribution over the bones of the martyred
Armenians who lay there. Armenian priests reciprocally paid
their tributes to the Turks in Mohammedan mosques. Enver
Pasha visited several Armenian schools, telling the children that
the old days of Moslem-Christian strife had passed for ever and
that the two peoples were now to live together as brothers and
sisters.

There were cynics who smiled at all these demonstrations, and
yet one development encouraged even them to believe that an
earthly Paradise had arrived. All through the period of domina-
tion only the master Moslem had been permitted to bear arms
and serve in the Ottoman Army, To be a soldier was an occupa-
tion altogether too manly and glorious for the despised Armenian.
But now the Young Turks encouraged all Armenians to arm, and
enrolled them in the Army on an equality with Moslems. These
Annenians fought, both as officers and soldiers, in the Italian
and the Balkan Wars, winning high praise from the Turkish
Generals for their valour and skill. Armenian leaders had figured
conspicuously in the Young Turk movement ; these men
apparently believed that a constitutional Turkey was possible,
and they preferred such a Turkey to the suzerainty of the great
European Powers or even to an independent State of their own.
Thev were conscious of their own intellectual and industrial
superiority to the Turks, and knew that they could prosper in
the Ottoman Empire if left alone, whereas, under European
control, they would have greater difficulty in meeting competition
of the more rigorous European colonists who might come in.
With the deposition of the Red Sultan, Abdul Hamid, and the
establishment of a constitutional system, the Armenians now for
the first time in several centuries felt themselves to be free men.

But, as I have already described, all these aspirations vanished
like a dream. Long before the European war began the Turkish
democracy had disappeared. The power of the new Sultan had
gone, and the hopes of regenerating Turkey on modern lines had
disappeared, leaving onl}^ a group of individuals, headed by
Talaat and Enver, actually in possession of the State. Having
lost their democratic aspirations, these men now supplanted it
with a new national conception. In place of a democratic
constitutional State they resurrected the idea of Pan-Turkism ;
in place of equal treatment of all Ottomans they decided to
establish a country exclusively for Turks, i I have called this a
new conception ; yet it v.^as new onh' to the individuals who then
controlled the destiny of the Empire, for, in reality, it was merely

The Turk Reverts to the Ancestral Type 187

'an attempt to revive the most barbaric ideas of their ancestors.
It represented, as I have said, merely an atavistic reversion to the
: original Turk.

We now saw that the Turkish leaders, in talking
■about liberty, equality, fraternity, and constitutionahsm, were
[merely children repeating plirases ; that they had used the word
" democracy " merely as a ladder by which to climb to power.
After five hundred years' close contact with European civihsation
the Turk remained precisely the same individual as the one who
had emerged from the steppes of Asia in the Middle Ages. He
iwas clinging just as tenaciously as his ancestors to that con-
ception of a State as consisting of a few master individuals whose
: right it is to enslave and plunder and maltreat anj^ peoples whom
[they can subject to their mihtary control. Though Talaat,
Enver, and Djemal all came of the humblest famiHes, the same
fundamental ideas of master and slave possessed them that
iormed the statecraft of Osman and the early Sultans. We now
discovered that a paper constitution, and even tearful visits to
t Christian churches and cemeteries, could not uproot the inborn
preconception of this nomadic people, that there are only two
kinds of people in the world— the conquering and the conquered.

When the Turkish Government abrogated the capitulations,
and in this way freed themselves from the domination of the
,fo eign Powers, they v/ere merely taking one step toward reaUsing
this Pan-Turkish ideal. I have told of the difficulties which I
had with them over the Christian schools. Their determination
I to uproot these, or at least to transform them into Turkish
institutions, was merely another detail in the same racial progress.

Similarly, th_y attempted to make all foreign business houses
employ only Turkish labour, insisting that they should discharge
their Greek, Armenian, and Jewish clerks, stenographers, work-
men, and other employees. They ordered foreign business
houses to keep their books in Turkish, and I had some difficulty
lin arranging a compromise by which they could keep them in
^both French and Turkish. The Ottoman Government even
refused to have any dealings with the representative of the
hiigest Austrian munition maker unless he admitted a Turk as a
partner. They developed a mania for suppressing all languages
except Turkish. For decades French had been the accepted
language of foreigners in Constantinople ; all street signs were
printed in both French and Turkish. One morning the aston-
ished foreign residents discovered that all these French signs
had been removed and that the names of streets, the directions
on street cars, and other pubhc notices, appeared only in these

i88 Secrets of the Bosphorus

strange Turkish characters, wliich very few of them understood.
Great confusion resulted from this change, but the ruhng powers
refused to restore the detested foreign language.

These leaders not only reverted to the barbaric conceptions
of their ancestors, but they went to extremes that had never
entered the minds of the wary Sultans. Their fifteenth- and
sixteenth-century predecessors treated the subject peoples as
dirt under their feet, yet they believed that they had a certain
usefulness and did not disdain to make them their serfs. But
this Committee of Union and Progress, led by Talaat and Enver
now decided to do away with them altogether. The old conquer-,
ing Turks had made the Christians their servants, but theii
parvenu descendants bettered their instruction, for they deteil
mined to exterminate them wholesale and Turkify the Empire bj
massacring the non-Moslem elements. Originally this was no
the statesmanlike conception of Talaat and Enver ; the man whc
first devised it was one of the greatest monsters known to history
the " Red Sultan," Abdul Hamid. This man came to the thron(
in 1876, at a critical period in Turkish history. In the first tw(
years of his reign he lost Bulgaria, as well as important province
in the Caucasus, his last remaining vestiges of sovereignty ii
Montenegro, Serbia, and Rumania, and all his real powers ii
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Greece had long since become ai*
independent nation, and the processes that were to wrench E;;yp
from the Ottoman Empire had already begun. As the Sultai
took stock of his' inheritance, he could easily foresee the da;;
when all the rest of his domain would pass into the hand of th |
infidel.

What had caused this disintegration of this extensiv
Turkish Empire ? The real cause, of course, lay deep in th
character of the Turk, but Abdul Hamid saw only the mor
obvious fact that the intervention of the great European Pov^er
had brought relief to these imprisoned nations. Of all the ne\
kingdoms which had been carved out of the Sultan's dominion?
Serbia— let us remember this fact to her everlasting honour — i
the only one that has conquered her own independence. Russie
France, and Great Britain have set free all the rest. And wJ^.a
had happened several times before might happen again. Ther
still remained one compact race in the Ottoman Empire that ha
national aspirations and national potentialities.

In the north-eastern part of Asia Minor bordering on Ru3si|
there were six provinces in which the Armenians formed the large^]
element in the popiilation. From the times of Herodotus thi
portion of Asia has borne the name of Armenia. The Armenian

i

The Turk Reverts to the Ancestral Type 189

)f the present day are the direct descendants of the people who in-
habited the country three thousand years ago. Their origin is
so ancient that it is lost in fable and mystery. There are still
undcciphered cuneiform inscriptions on the rocky hills of Van,
the largest Armenian city, that have led certain scholars — though
not many, I must admit it — to identify the Armenian race with
the Hittites of the Bible. What is definitely known about the
Armenians, however, is that for ages they have constituted the
post civilised and most industrious ra.cc in the eastern section of
the Ottoman Empire. From their mountains they have spread
|ail over the Sultan's dominions, and form a considerable element
in the population of all the large cities. Everywhere they are
known for their industry, their intelHgence, and their decent and
jOrderly hves. They are^o_superior to the Turks intellectually
rand morally that much of the biismess and industry had passed
'into their hands, \^lth the Greeks, the Armenians constitute
;the economic strength of the Empire. These people became
Christians in the fourth century and estabhshed the Armenian
Church as their State religion. Tliis is said to be the oldest State
Church in existence.

' In face of persecutions which have no parallel elsewhere,
these people have clung to their early Christian faith with the
utmost tenacity. For fifteen hundred years they have hved
there in Armenia, a httle island of Christians surrounded by
backward peoples of hostile rehgion and hostile race. Their long
existence has been one unending martjnrdom. The territory
which they inhabit forms the connecting hnk betv.een Europe and
Asia, and all the Asiatic invasions — Saracens, Tartars, Mongols,
Kurds, and Turks — have passed over their peaceful country.
For centuries they have thus been the Belgium of the East.

Through all this period the Armenians have regarded them-
t selves not as Asiatics, but as Europeans. They speak an
l.Indo-European language, their racial origin is beheved to be by
[scholars Ar\^an, and the fact that their rehgion is the religion of
Europe has "always made them turn their eyes westward ; and out
of that western country, they have always beheved, would some
day come the dehverance that would rescue them from their
,murderous masters. And now, as Abdul Hamid in 1876 sur-
veyed his shattered domain, he saw that its most dangerous spot
'was Armenia. He beheved, rightly or wrongly, that these
IjArmenians, hke the Rumanians, the Bulgarians, the Greeks, and
j,thc Serbians, aspired to restore their independent individual
'nation, and he knew that Europe and America sympathised with
this ambition.

igo Secrets of the Bosphorus

The Treaty of Berlin, which had definitely ended the Turco-
Russian War, contained an article wliich gave the European
Powers a protecting hand over the Armenians. How could
he free himself permanently from this danger ? An en-
lightened administration, which would have transformed the
Armenians into free men and made them safe in their lives and
property and civil and religious rights, would probably have made
them peaceful and loyal subjects. But no Turk could rise to
such a conception of statesmanship as this. Instead, Abdul
Hamid decided that there was only one way of ridding Turkey of
Ihe Armenian problem — and that was to rid her of the Armenians.
The physical destruction of 2,000,000 men, women, and children
by massacres, organised and directed by the State, seemed to be
the one sure way of forestalhng the further disruption of the
Turkish Empire.

One day Abdul Hamid sent for the Armenian Patriarch, the
head of the Armenian Church. He received him in his palace
directly overlooking the Bosphorus. The Sultan pointed to this
stream and said : "If your Armenians do not stop agitating, I
will make their blood flow like the Bosphorus out there ! "

And now for nearly thirty years Turkey gave the world an
illustration of government by massacre. We in Europe and^
America heard of these events when they reached especially '
monstrous proportions, as they did in 1895-96, when nearly
200,000 Armenians were most atrociously done to death. But
through all these years the existence of the Armenians was one
continuous nightmare. Their property was stolen, their men
were murdered, their women were ravished, their young girls'
were kidnapped and forced to live in Turkish harems. All these
things happened daily. Yet Abdul Hamid was not able to '
accomplish his full purpose ; had he had his will, he would have
mcLSsacred the whole nation in one hideous orgy. He attempted
to do this in 1895, but found certain insuperable obstructions to
his plan. Chief of these were England, France, and Russia. ;
These atrocities called Gladstone, then eighty-six years old, from '
his retirement, and his speeches, in which he denounced the'
Sultan as "the Great Assassin" and "Abdul the Damned,"-
aroused the whole world to the enormities that were taking'
place. It became apparent that, unless the Sultan desisted,
England, France, and Russia would intervene, and the Sultan
well knew that, in case this intervention took place, such rem- .
nants of Turkey as had survived earher partitions would dis-
appear. Thus Abdul Hamid had to abandon his satanic enter-
prise of destroying a whole race by murder; yet Armenia

The Turk Reverts to the Ancestral Type 191

continued to suffer the slow agony of pitiless persecution. Up to
the outbreak of the European war not a day had passed in the
Armenian vilayets without its outrages and its murders. The
Young Turk regime, despite its promises of universal brotherhood,
brought no respite to the Armenians. A few months after the
love-feastings already described, one of the worst massacres took
place at Adana, in which 35,000 people were destroyed.

And now the Young Turks, who had adopted so many of
Abdul Hamid's ideas, also made liis Armenian pohcy their own..
Their passion for Turkifying the nation seemed to demand
logically the extermination of all Christians — Greeks, Syrians,
and Armenians. Much as they admired the Mohammedan
:onquerors of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they now
perceived that these great warriors had made one fatal mistake,
for they had had it in their power completely to obliterate the
Christian populations and had neglected to do so. This poUcy,
11 their opinion, was a fatal error of statesmanship, and explained
ilill the woes from w^hich Turkey has suffered in modem times.
Had these old Moslem chieftains, when they conquered Bulgaria,
iDUt all the BuJgaiians to the sword, and peopled the Bulgarian
:ountry with ^Moslem Turks, there would never have been any
nodern Bulgarian problem, and Turkey would never have lost
s.his part of her Empire. Similarly, had they destroyed all the
[Rumanians, Serbians, and Greeks, the provinces w^hich are now
;;ccupied by these races would still have remained integral parts
;'>f the Sultan's domain. They felt that the mistake had been a
errible one, but that something might be saved from the ruin,
'hey would destroy all Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, and other
Christians, move Moslem families into their homes and into their
arms, and so make sure that these territories would not similarly
e taken away from Turkey.

In order to accomphsh this great reform it would

ot be necessary to murder every hving Christian. The

;iost beautiful and healthy Armenian girls could be taken,

onverted forcibly to Mohammedanism, and made the

/ives or concubines of devout followers of the Prophet. Their

hildren would then automatically become Moslems and so

rrngthen the Empire as the Janissaries did in former years.

lii-se Armenian girls represent a high type of womanhood, and

If Young Turks, in their crude, intuitive way, recognised that

niinghng of their blood with the Turkish population would
Acrt a eugenic influence upon the whole. Armenian boys of
;nder years could be taken into Turkish famiUes and be brought
, i^ m ignorance of the fact that they were anything but Moslems..

192 Secrets of the Bosphorus

These were about the only elements, however, that could make
any valuable contributions to the new Turkey which was now
being planned. Since all precautions must be taken against the
development of a new generation of Armenians, it would be
necessary to kill outright all men who were in their prime and
thus capable of propagating the accursed species. Old men and
women formed no great danger to the future of Turkey, for they
had already fulfilled their natural function of leaving descendants ;
still, they were nuisances and therefore should be disposed of.

UnHke Abdul Hamid, the Young Turks found themselves in
a position where they could carry out this " holy " enterprise.
Great Britain, France, and Russia had stood in the way of their
predecessor. But now these obstacles had been removed. The
Young Turks, as I have said, believed that while they were at
war with these nations they had no representatives in Turkey who
could interfere with their internal affairs. Only one Power could
successfully raise objections, and that was Germany. But
Germany had never attempted to stop massacres in Turkey. In
1898, when all the rest of Europe was ringing with Gladstone's
denunciations and demanding intervention. Kaiser Wilhelm the
Second had gone to Constantinople, visited Abdul Hamid, pinned
his finest decorations on that bloody tyrant's breast, and kissed
him on both cheeks. The same Kaiser who had done this in
1898 was still sitting on the throne in 1915, and was now Turkey's
ally. Thus for the first time in two centuries the Turks, in 1915,
had their Christian populations utterly at their mercy. The
time had finally come to make Turkey exclusively the country
of the Turks.

CHAPTER XXIIl

THE " REVOLUTION " AT VAN

The Turkish province of Van lies in the remote ipprti^eastern
corner of Asia Minor ; it touches the frontiers of Persia on the
east and its northern boundary looks toward the Caucasus. It
is one of the most beautiful and most fruitful parts of the Turkish
Empire and one of the richest in historical associations. The
city of Van, which is capital of the vilayet, Ues on the eastern
shores of the lake of the same name ; it is the one large town in
Asia in which the Armenian population is larger than the Moslem.
In the fall of 1914, its population of about 30,000 people repre-
sented one of the most peaceful, happy, and prosperous com-
munities in the Turkish Empire. Though Van, hke practically
every other section where Armenians lived, had had its periods of
oppression and massacre, yet the Moslem yoke, comparatively
speaking, rested upon its people rather lightly. Its Turkish
Governor, Tahsin Pasha, was one .of the more enlightened type
of Turkish officials. Relations between the Armenians, who
lived in the better section of the city, and the Turks and the
Kurds, who occupied the mud huts in the Moslem quarter, had
been tolerably agreeable for many years.

The location of this vilayet, however, inevitably made it the
scene of military operations, and made the activities of its
Annenian population a matter of daily suspicion. Should
Russia attempt an invasion of Turkey one ol" the most accessible
routes lay through this province. The war had not gone far
when causes of irritation arose. The requisitions of army
supplies fell far more heavily upon the Christian than upon the
Mohammedan elements in Van, just as they did in every other
part of Turkey. The Armenians had to stand quietly by while
the Turkish oificers appropriated all their cattle, all their wheat,
and all their goods of every kind, giving them only worthless
pieces of paper in exchange.

The attempt at general disarmament that took place

also aroused their apprehensions, wliich were increased by

the brutal treatment visited upon Armenian soldiers in the

Caucasus. On the other hand, the Turks made many

I charges against the Christian population, and, in fact, they

±94 Secrets of the Bosphorus

attributed to them the larger share of the blame for the reverses
which the Turkish Armies had suffered in the Caucasus. The
fact that a considerable element in the Russian forces was
composed of Armenians aroused their unbridled wrath. Since
about half the Armenians in the world inhabit the Russian
provinces in the Caucasus, and are hable, like all Russians, to
miHtary service, there was certainly no legitimate grounds for
complaint, so far as these Armenian levies were bona fide subjects
of the Tsar. But the Turks asserted that large numbers of
Armenian soldiers in Van and other of their Armenian provinces
deserted, crossed the border, and joined the Russian Army, where
their knowledge of roads and the terrain was an important factor
in the Russian victories. Though the exact facts are not yet
ascertained, it seems not unlikely that such desertions, perhaps
a few hundred, did take place.

At the beginning of the war Turkfsh officials appeared
in this neighbourhood and appealed to the Armenian leaders
to go into Russian Armerua and attempt to start revolutions
against the Russian Government, and the fact that the
Ottoman Armenians refused to do this contributed further
to the prevailing irritation. The Turkish Government has
made much of the " treasonable " behaviour of the Arme-
nians of Van, and have even urged it as an excuse for their
subsequent treatment of the whole race. Their attitude
illustrates once more the perversity of the Turkish mind. After I
massacring hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the course of
thirty years, outraging the women and girls, and robbing and
maltreating them in every conceivable way, the Turks still,'
apparently believed that they had the right to expect from them '
the most enthusiastic " loyalty." That the Armenians all over
Turkey sympathised with the Entente was no secret. " If you
want to know how the war is going," remarked a humorous^
Turkish newspaper, " all you need to do is to look in the face of,
an Armenian. If he is smiling, then the Allies are winning ; if he|
is downcast, then the Germans are successful." If an Ottoman!
Armenian soldier should desert and join the Russians that would;!
unquestionably constitute a technical crime against the btatej
and might be punished without violating the rules of all civilisec'
countries. Only the Turkish mind, however — and possibly the
Geiinan — could regard it as furnisliing an excuse for the terrible
barbarities that now took place.

Though the air all during the autumn and winter of 1914-1^
was filled with premonitions of trouble, the Armenians behavee
with remarkable self-restraint. For years it had been th^

The " Revolution " at Van 195

Turkish polic}' to provoke the Christian population into com-
; mitting overt acts, and then seizing upon such misbehaviour as
j an excuse for massacres. The Armenian clergy and political
' leaders saw many evidences that the Turks were now up to their
\ old tactics, and they therefore went among the people, cautioning
them to keep quiet, to bear all insults, and even outrages.ipatiently,
so as not to give the Moslems the opening which they were
■seeking. " Even though they burn a few of our villages," these
I leaders would say, " do not retahate, for it is better that a few
'be destroyed than that the whole nation be massacred."

When the war started, the Central Government recalled
Tahsin Pasha, the concihatory Governor of Van, and replaced
him with Djevdet Bey, a brother-in-law of Enver Pasha. This
act in itself was most disquieting. Turkish officialdom has
always contained a minority of men who do not believe in
massacres as a State pohcy and who cannot be depended upon to
carry out strictly the most bloody orders of the Central Govern-
ment. Whenever massacres have been planned, therefore, it
has been customary first to remove such " untrustworthy "
pubhc servants and replace them with men who are regarded as
more rehable. the cnaracter of Tahsin 's successor made his
displacement still more alarming. Djevdet had spent the larger
part of his Hfe at Van ; he was a man of unstable character,
friendly to non-Moslems one moment, hostile the next, hypo-
critical, treacherous, and ferocious according to the worst
traditions of his race. He hated the Armenians and cordially
sympathised with the long-estabhshed Turkish plan of solving
the Armenian problem. There is httle question that he came to
Van with delinite mstructions to externnnate all Armenians in
this province, but for the first few months conditions did not
facihtatc such operations. Djevdet himself was absent fighting
the Russians in tlie Caucasus, and the near approach of the enemy
made it a wise policy for the Turks to refrain from maltreating
:he Armenians of Van. But early in the spring the Russians
temporarily retreated.

it is generally recognised as good military tactics for a vic-
torious army to follow up the retreating enemy. In the eyes of the
Turkish generals, however, the withdrawal of the Russians was a
lappy turn of war mainly because it deprived the Armenians of
;heir protectors and left them at tlie mercies of the Turkish ^^riny.
[nstead of following the retreating foe, therefore, the Turks' Army
turned aside and mvaded their own territory of Van. Instead of
lighting the trained Russian Army of men, they turned tlieirrilles,
rnidchine guns, and other weapons upon the Armenian women,

196 Secrets of the Bosphorus

children, and old men in the villages of Van. Following their usual
custom, they distributed the most beautiful Armenian women
among the Moslems, sacked and burned the Armenian villages,
and massacred uninterruptedly for days. On April 15th
about 500 young Armenian men of Akantz were mustered to
hear an order of the Sultan ; at sunset they were marched
outside the town and every man shot in cold blood. This
procedure was repeated in about eighty Armenian villages in the
district north of Lake Van, and in three days 24,000 Armenians
were murdered in this atrocious fashion.

A single episode illustrates the unspeakable depravity of
Turkish methods. A conflict having broken out at Shadak, Djevdet
Bey, who had meanwliile returned to Van, asked four of the lead-
ing Armenian citizens to go to this town and attempt to quiet the
multitude. These men made the trip, stopping at all Armenian
villages along the way, urging everybody to keep pubhc order.
After completing their work these four Armenians were murdered
in a Kurdish village.

And so when Djevdet Bey, on his return to his official
post, demanded that Van furnish him immediately 4,000
soldiers, the people were naturally in no mood to accede to his
request. When we consider what had happened before, and
what happened subsequently, there remains little doubt con-
cerning the purpose which underlay this demand. Djevdet,
acting in obedience to orders from Constantinople, was preparing
to wipe out the whole population, arid his purpose in calling
for 4,000 able-bodied men was merely to massacre them, so
that the rest of the Armenians might have no defenders. The
Armenians, parleying to gain time, offered to furnish 500
soldiers and to pay exemption money for the rest. Now, however,,
Djevdet began to talk aloud about " rebelHon," and his deter-
mination to " crush " it at any cost. " If the rebels fire a single:
shot," he declared, " I shall kill every Christian man, woman, and;,
child up to here," pointing to his knee.

For some time the Turks had been constructing entrenchments
around the Armenian quarter and fihing them with soldiers, and, in
response to this provocation, the Armenians began to make pre
parations for a defence. On April 20th a band of Turkish soldiers
seized several Armenian women who were entering the city; a couple
of Armenians ran to their assistance and were shot dead. Th^
Turks now opened fire on the Armenian quarters with rifles anc
artillery ; soon a large part of the town was in flames and £
regular siege had started. The whole Armenian fighting force
consisted of only 1,500 men ; Ihey had only 300 rifles and 2

The '• Revolution " at Van iq7

most inadequate supply of ammunition, while Djevdet had an
army of 5,000 men, completely equipped and supplied; yet the
Armenians fought with the utmost heroism and skill. They had
little chance of holding off their enemies indefinitely, yet they
knew that a Russian Army was fighting its way to Van, and their
utmost hope was that they would be able to defy the besiegers
until these Russians arrived.

As I am not writing the story of sieges and battles, I cannot
describe in detail the numerous acts of individual heroism, the
co-operation of the Armenian women, the ardour and energy
of the Armenian children, the self-sacrificing zeal of the
American missionaries — especially Dr. Usher and his wife and
Miss Grace H. Knapp — and the thousand other circum-
stances that make this terrible month one of the most glorious
pages in modern Armenian history. The wonderful thing
about it is that the Armenians triumphed. After nearly
five weeks of sleepless fighting, the Russian Army suddenly ap-
peared, and the Turks fled into the surrounding country, where
they found appeasement for their anger by again massacring
unprotected Armenian villages. Dr. Usher, the American
medical missionary, whose hospital at Van was destroyed by
bombardment, is authority for the statement that, after driving
oft the Turks, the Russians began to collect and to cremate the
bodies of Armenians who had been murdered in the province,
I with the result that 55,000 bodies were burned.

I have told this story of the " revolution " in Van not only
because it marked the first stage in this organised attempt to
wipe out a v/hole nation, but because these events are always
brought forward by the Turks as a juS' ification of their subsequent
crimes. x\s I shall rcl ,te. Enver, Talaat, and the rest, when
I appealed to them on behalf of the Armenians, invariably
instanced the " revolut'onists " of Van as a sample of Armenian
treachery. The famous " revolution," as this recital shows,
was merely the determination of the Armenians to save their
women's honour and their own lives, after the Turks, by
massacring thousands of their neighbours, had shown them the
fate that awaited them.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE MURDER OF A NATION

The destruction of the Armenian race in 1915 involved certain
difficulties that had not impeded the operations of the Turks in
the massacres of 1895 and other years. In these earlier periods
the Armenian men had possessed little power or means of
resistance. In those days Armenians had not been permitted to
have military training, to serve in the Turkish Army, or to
possess arms. As I have already said, these discriminations
were withdrawn when the revolutionists obtained the upper
hand in 1908. Not only were the Christians now permitted to
bear arms, but the authorities, in the full flush of their enthusiasm
for freedom and equality, encouraged them to do so. In the
early part of 1915, therefore, every Turkish cit}^ contained
thousands of Armenians who had been trained as soldiers and
who were supplied with rifles, pistols, and other weapons of
defence.

The operations at Van disclosed that these men could
use their munitions to good advantage. A similar " rebellion "
at Zeitoun also proved that these despised merchants and traders
of the Empire possessed energetic fighting power. It was thus
apparent that an Armenian massacre this time would generally
assume more the character of warfare than those wholesale
butcheries of defenceless men and women which the Turks had
always found so congenial. If this plan of murdering a race was
to succeed, two preliminary steps would therefore have to be
taken : it would be necessary to render all Armenian soldiers
powerless and to deprive of their arms the Armenians in every
city and town. Before Armenia could be slaughtered, Armenia
must be made defenceless.

In the early part of 19 15 the Armenian soldiers in the Turkish
Army were reduced to a new status. Up to that time most of
them had been combatants, but now they were all stripped of
their arms and transfomied into workmen. Instead of serving
their countrymen as artillerjnnen and cavalrymen, these former
soldiers now discovered that thej' had been transformed into
road labourers and pack animals. Army supplies of all kinds
were loaded on their backs, and stumbling under the burdens,

The Murder of a Nation 199

and driven by the whips and bayonets of the Turks, they were
forced to drag their weary bodies into the mountains of the
Caucasus. Sometimes they would have to plough their way,
burdened in this fashion, almost waist-high tlirough snow.
They had to spend practically all their time in the open, sleeping
on the bare ground — whenever the ceaseless prodding of their
taskmasters gave them an occasional opportunity 'to sleep.
They were given only scraps of food ; if they fell sick they were
left where they had dropped, their Turkish oppressors perhaps
stopping long enough to rob them of all their possessions — even
of their clothes. If any stragglers succeeded in reaching their
destinations they were not infrequently massacred. In many
instances Armenian soldiers were disposed of in even more
summary fashion, for it now became almost the general practice
to shoot them in cold blood. In almost all cases the procedure
was the same. Here and there squads of fifty or a hundred men
would be taken, bound together in groups of four, and then
marched out to a secluded spot a short distance from the village.
Suddenly the sound of rifle-shots would fill the air, and the
Turkish soldiers who had acted as the escort would sullenly
return to camp. Those sent to bury the bodies would find them
almost invariably stark naked, for, as usual, the Turks had stolen
all their clothes. In cases that came to my attention, the
murderers had added a refinement to their victims' sufferings by
compelling them to dig their graves before being shot.

Let me relate a single episode which is contained in one of
the reports of our Consuls and which now forms part of the
records of the American State Department. Early in July
2,000 Armenian " ameles " — such is the Turkish word for
soldiers who have been reduced to workmen — were sent from
Harpoot to build roads. The Armenians in that town under-
stood what this meant and pleaded with the Governor for mercy.
But this official insisted that the men were not to be harmed,
and he even called upon the German missionary, Mr. Ehemann,
to quiet the panic, giving that gentleman his word of honour
that the ex-soldiers would be protected. Mr. Ehemann believed
the Governor and assuaged the popular fear. Yet practically
every man of these 2,000 was massacred, and his body thrown
into a cave. A few escaped, and it was from these that news of
the massacre reached the world. A few'Mays afterward another
2,000 soldiers were sent to Diarbekir. The only purpose of
sending these men out in the open country was that they might
be massacred.

In order that they might have no strength to resist

200

Secrets of the Bosphorus

and to escape by flight, these poor creatures were sys-
tematically starved. Government agents went ahead on the
road, notifying the Kurds that the caravan was approaching
and ordering them to do their congenial duty. Not only did the
Kurdish tribesmen pour down from the mountains upon this
starved and weakened regiment, but the Kurdish women came
with butchers' knives in order that they might gain that merit in
Allah's eyes that comes from killing a Christian. These mas-
sacres were not isolated happenings ; I could detail many more
episodes just as horrible as the one related above. Throughout
the Turkish Empire a systematic attempt was made to kill all
able-bodied men, not only for the purpose of removing all males
who might propagate a new generation of Armenians, but for
the purpose of rendering the weaker part of the population an
easy prey.

Dreadful as were these massacres of unarmed soldiers, they
were mercy and justice themselves when compared with the
treatment which was now visited upon those Armenians who
were suspected of concealing arms. Naturally, the Christians
became alarmed when placards were posted in the villages and
cities ordering them to bring all their arms to headquarters.
Since this order appHed only to Christians, the Armenians well
understood what the result would be should they be left defence-
less while their Moslem neighbours were permitted to retain their
arms. In many cases, however, the persecuted people patiently
obeyed the command, and then the Turkish officials almost
joyfully seized their rifles as evidence that a " revolution " was
being planned, and threw their victims into prison on a charge of
treason. Thousands failed to deliver arms simply because they
had none to dehver, while an even greater number tenaciously
refused to give them up, not because they were plotting an
uprising, but because they proposed to defend their own lives
and their women's honour against the outrages which they knew
were being planned.

The punishment inflicted upon these recalcitrants forms
one of the most hideous chapters of modern history.
Most of us believe that torture has long ceased to be an
administrative and judicial measure, yet I do not believe that
the darkest ages ever presented scenes more horrible than those
which now took place all over Turkey. Nothing was sacred to
the Turkish gendarmes ; under the plea of searching for hidden
arms they ransacked churches, treated the altars and sacred
utensils with the utmost indignities, and even held mock cere-
monies in imitation of the Christian sacraments. They would

The Murder of a Nation 201

beat tho priests into insensibility, under the pretence that they
were the centres of sedition. When they could discover no
munitions in the churches, they would sometimes arm the
bishops and priests with guns, pistols, and swords, then try them
before court-martials for possessing weapons against the law,
and march them in this condition through the streets, merely to
arouse the fanatical wrath of the mobs. The gendarmes treated
women with the same cruelty and indecency as their husbands.
There are cases on record in which women accused of concealing
weapons were stripped naked and whipped with branches freshly
cut from trees, and these beatings were even inflicted on women
who were with child. Violations so commonly accompanied
these searches that Armenian women and girls, on the approach
of the gendarmes, would flee to the woods, the hills, or to
mountain caves.

As a preliminary to the searches everywhere, the strong men
of the villages and towns were arrested and taken to prison.
Their tormentors here would exercise the most diabolical
ingenuity in their attempt to make their victims declare them-
selves to be " revolutionists " and to tell the hiding-places of
their amis. A common practice was to place the prisoner in a
room, with two Turks stationed at each end and each side. The
examination would then begin with the bastinado. This is a
form of torture not uncommon in the Orient ; it consists of
beating the soles of the feet with a thin rod. At first the pain is
not marked, but as the process goes slowly on it develops into
the most terrible agony, the feet swell and burst, and not in-
frequently, after being submxitted to this treatment, the3' have
to be amputated. The gendarmes would bastinado their
Armenian victim until he fainted ; they would then revive him by
^sprinkKng water on his face and begin again. If this did not
; succeed in bringing their victim to terms, they had numerous
! other methods of persuasion. They would pull out his eyebrows
and beard almost hair by hair ; they would extract his finger -
ncdls and toe-nails ; they would apply red-hot irons to his breast ;
tear off his flesh with red-hot pincers, and then pour boiled butter
into the wounds. In some cases the gendannes would nail
hands and feet to pieces of wood — evidently in imitation of the
crucifixion, and then, while the sufferer writhed in his agony,
:hey would cry : " Now let your Christ come and help
you ! "

These cruelties — and many others which I forbear to describe
—were usually inflicted in the night time. Turks would be
itationed around the prisons, beating drums and blowing

202 Secrets of the Bosphorus

whistles, so that the screams of the sufferers would not reach the
villagers.

In thousands of cases the Armenians who endured these agonies
had refused to surrender their arms simply because they had
none to surrender. However, they could not persuade their
tormentors that this was the case. It therefore became custom-
ary, when news was received that the searchers were approaching,
for Armenians to purchase arms from their Turkish neighbours
so that they might be able to give them up and escape these
frightful punishments.

One day I was discussing these proceedings with Bedri Bey,
the Constantinople Prefect of Police. With a disgusting reHsh
Bedri described the tortures inflicted. He made no secret of the
fact that the Government had instigated them, and, like all Turks
of the official classes, he enthusiastically approved this treatment
of the detested race. Bedri told me that all these details were
matters of nightly discussion at the headquarters of the Union
and Progress Committee. Each new method of inflicting pain
was hailed as a splendid discovery, and the regular attendants
were constantly ransacking their brains in the effort to devise
some new torment. Bedri told me that they even delved into
the records of the Spanish Inquisition and other historic in-
stitutions of torture, and adopted all the suggestions found there.
Bedri did not tell me who carried off the prize in this gruesome
competition, but common reputation throughout Armenia gave
a pre-eminent infamy to Djevdet Bey, the Vali of Van, whose
activities in that section I have already described. All through
this country Djevdet now became known as the " marshall
blacksmith of Bashkale," for this connoisseur in torture had
invented what was perhaps the masterpiece of all — that of nailing
horseshoes to the feet of his Armenian victims.

Yet these happenings did not constitute what the newspapers
of the time commonly referred to as the Armenian atrocities ;
they were merely the preparatory steps in the destruction of a
race. The Young Turks displayed greater ingenuity than their
predecessor, Abdul Hamid. The injunction of the deposed
Sultan was merely " to kill, kill," whereas the Turkish democracy
hit upon an entirely new plan. Instead of massacring outright
the Armenian race, they now decided to deport it. In the south
and south-eastern section of the Ottoman Empire Hes the Syrian
desert and the Mesopotamian valley. Though part of this area
was once the scene of a flourishing civiUsation, for the last five
centuries it has suffered the plight that becomes the lot of any
country that is subjected to Turkish rule ; and it is now a drearyj

The Murder of a Nation 203

desolate waste, 'without cities and towns or life of any kind,
populated only by a few wild and fanatical Bedouin tribes.
Onlv the most industrious labour, expended through many years,
could transform this desert into the abiding-place of any con-
siderable population. The Central Government now announced
its intention of gathering the 2,000,000 or more Armenians
living in the several sections of the Empire and transporting them
to this desolate and inhospitable region. Had they undertaken
such a deportation in good faith it woTild have represented the
height of cruelty and injustice. For a large part the Armenians
are not agriculturists ; their talents are chiefly for business and
commercial life ; though many of them do cultivate farms and
engage in sheep-herding, many lived in cities and large towns,
and, as I have already said, they represent the economic force of
the country. To seize such peoples by the million and send
them into one of the most barren parts of Asia would have been
an act of the most inhuman spoliation. As a matter of fact, the
Turks never had the shghtest idea of re-establishing the Ar-
menians in this new country. They knew that the great majority
would never reach their destination and that those who did
would either die of thirst and starvation, or be murdered by the
\\^ld Mohammedan desert tribes. The real purpose of the
deportation was robbery and destruction ; it really represented
a new method of massacre. When Talaat, as Minister of the
Interior, gave the orders for these deportations, he was merely
giving the death-warrant to a whole race ; he understood this
well, and in his conversations with me he made no particular
attempt to conceal the fact.-

All through the spring and summer of 1915 the deportations
took place. Of the larger cities, only Constantinople, Smyrna,
and Kutahia were spared ; practically all other places where a
single Armenian family Hved now became the scenes of these
unspeakable tragedies. Scarcely a single Armenian, whatever
his education or wealth, or whatever the social class to which he
belonged, was exempted from the order. In some villages
placards were posted ordering the whole Armenian population
to present itself in a public place at an appointed time — usually
a day or two ahead, and in other places the town-crier would go
through the streets deUvering the order vocally. In still others
not the slightest warning v/as given. The gendarmes would
appear before an Armenian house and order all the inmates to
follow them . Tliev would take women engaged in their domestic

tasks without giving them the chance to change their clothes.

The pohce fell upon them first as the eruption of Vesuvius fell

204 Secrets of the Bosphorus

upon Pompeii ; women were taken from the wash-tubs, children
were snatched out of bed, the bread would be left half-baked in
the oven, the family meal would be abandoned partly eaten, the
children would be taken from the schoolroom, leaving their books
open at the daily task, the men would be forced to abandon
their plough in the fields and their cattle on the mountain-side.
Even women who had just given birth to children would be
forced to leave their beds and join the panic-stricken throng,
their sleeping babies in their arms. Such things as they hurriedly
snatched up — a shawl, a blanket, perhaps a few scraps of food-
was all that they could take of their household belongings. To
their frantic question, " Where are we going ? " the gendarmes
would vouchsafe only one reply : "To the interior."

In some cases the refugees were given a few hours, in ex-
ceptional instances a few days, to dispose of their property and
household effects. But the proceeding, of course, amounted
simply to robbery. They could sell only to Turks, and since
both buyers and sellers knew that they had only a day or two
to market the accumulations of a lifetime, the prices obtained
represented a small fraction of their value. Sewing-machines
would bring one or two dollars — a cow would go for a dollar, a
houseful of furniture would be sold for a pittance. In many cases
Armenians were prohibited from selling or Turks from buying
even at these ridiculous prices ; under pretence that the Govern-
ment intended to sell their effects to pa^^ the creditors whom they
would inevitably leave behind, their household furniture would
be placed in stores or heaped up in public places, where it was
usually pillaged by Turkish men and women. The Government
officials would also inform the Armenians that, since their
deportation was only temporary, the intention being to bring
them back after the war was over, they would not be permitted
to sell their houses. Scarcely had the former possessors left the
village, when Mohammedan Mohadjirs — immigrants from other
parts of Turkey — would be moved into the Armenian quarters.
Similarly all their valuables, monej^ rings, watches, and jewellery,
would be taken to the police-stations for " safe keeping " pending
their return, and then parcelled out among the Turks. Yet these
robberies gave the refugees little anguish, for far more terrible
and agonising scenes were taking place under their eyes. The
sj^stematic extermination of the men continued ; such males as
the persecutions which I have already described had left, were
now violently dealt with. Before the caravans were started, it
became the regular practice to separate the young men from the
families, tie them together in groups of four, lead them to the

The Murder of a Nation 205

outskirts, and shoot them. Public hangings without trial — the
only offence being that the victims were Armenians — were
taking place constantly. The gendarmes showed a particular
desire to annihilate the educated and the influential. From
American Consuls and missionaries I was constantly receiving
reports of such executions, and many of the events which they
described will never fade from my memory. At Angora all
Armenian men from iifteen to seventy were arrested, bound
together in groups of four, and sent on the road in the direction
of Caesaria. When they had travelled five or six hours and had
reached a secluded valley, a mob of Turkish peasants fell upon
them with clubs, hammers, axes, scythes, spades, and saws.
Such instruments not only caused more agonising deaths than
guns and pistols, but, as the Turks themselves boasted, they were
mere economical, since they did not involve the waste of powder
and shell. In this way they exterminated the whole male
population of Angora, including all its men of wealth and
breeding, and their bodies, horribly mutilated, were left in the
valley, where they were devoured by wild beasts. After com-
pleting this destruction, the peasants and gendarmes gathered
in the local tavern, comparing notes and boasting of the number
of " giaours " that each had slain. In Trebizond the men were
placed in boats and sent out on the Black Sea ; gendarmes would
then come up in boats, shoot them down, and throw their bodies
into the water.

When the signal was given for the caravans to move, there-
fore, they almost invariably consisted of women, children, and
old men. Anyone who could possibly have protected them from
the fate that awaited them had been destroyed. Not infrequently
the prefect of the city, as the mass started on its way, would
wish them a derisive " pleasant journey.-" Before the caravan
moved the women were sometimes offered the alternative of
becoming Mohammedans. Even though they accepted the new
faith, which few of them did, their earthly troubles did not end.
The converts were compelled tc surrender their children to a
so-called '' Moslem Orphanage," with the agreement that they
should be trained as devout followers of the Prophet. They
themselves must then show the sincerity of their conversion by
abandoning their Christian husbands and marrying Moslems.
If no good Mohammedan offered liimself as a hifsband, then the
new convert was deported, however strongly she might protest
her devotion to Islam.

At first the Government showed some inclination to protect
these deporting throngs. The ofticers usually divided them into

2o6 Secrets of the Bosphorus

convoys, in some cases numbering several hundred, in others
several thousand. The civil authorities occasionally furnished
ox-carts which carried such household furniture as the exiles had
succeeded in scrambling together. A guard of gendarmerie
accompanied each convoy, ostensibly to guide and protect it.
Women, scantily clad, carrying babies in their arms or on their
backs, marched side by side with old men hobbhng along with
canes. Children would run along, evidently regarding the
procedure, in the early stages, as some new lark. A more
prosperous member would perhaps have a horse or a donkey,
occasionally a farmer had rescued a cow or a sheep, which would
trudge along at his side, and the usual assortment of family pets,
dogs, cats, and birds, became parts of the variegated precession.
From thousands of Araienian cities and villages these despairing
caravans now set forth ; they filled all the roads leading south ;
everywhere, as they moved on, they raised a huge dust, and
abandoned debris, chairs, blankets, bedclothes, household utensils,
and other impediments, marked the course of the processions.
When the caravans first started, the individuals bore some
resemblance to human beings ; in a few hours, however, the dust
of the road plastered their faces and clothes, the mud caked
their lower members, and the slowly-advancing mobs, frequently
bent with fatigue and crazed by the brutality of their " pro-
tectors," resembled some new and strange anunal species. Yet
for the better part of six months, from April to October, 1915,
practically all the highways in Asia Minor were crowded with
these unearthly bands of exiles. They could be seen winding in
and out of every valley and climbing up the sides of nearly every
mountain — moving on and on, they scarcely knew whither,
except that every road led to death. ViUage after village and
town after town was evacuated of its Armenian population,
under the distressing circumstances already detailed. In these
six months, as far as can be ascertained, about 1,200,000 people
started on this journey to the Syrian desert.

" Pray for us," they would say as they left their homes — the
homes in which their ancestors had Uved for 2,500 years. " We
shall not see you in this world again, but sometime we shall
meet. Pray for us ! "

The Armenians had hardly left their native villages when the
persecutions began. The roads over wliich they travelled were
little more than donkey-paths ; and what had started a few
hours before as an orderly procession soon became a dishevelled
and scrambling mob. Women were separated from their
children and husbands from their wives. The old people soon

X tic; ITXI.4^ VAV/X \JX C4 i. ^ tA\.M.\^M.M.

lost contact with their families and became exhausted and
footsore. I he Turkish drivers of the ox-carts, after extorting
the last penny from their charges, would suddenly dump them
and their belongings into the road, turn around and return to
the village for other victims. Thus in a short time practically
everybody, young and old, was compelled to travel on foot.
The gendarmes whom the Goverrmient had sent supposedly to
protect the exiles, in a very few hours became their tormentors.
They followed their charges with fixed bayonets, prodding anyone
who showed any tendency to slacken the pace. Those who
attempted to stop for rest, or who fell exhausted on the road,
were compelled, with the utmost brutality, to rejoin the moving
throng. They even prodded pregnant women with bayonets ;
if one, as frequently happened, gave birth along the road, she
was immediately forced to get up and rejoin the marchers. The
whole course of the journey became a perpetual struggle with the
Moslem inhabitants. Detachments of gendarmes would go
ahead notifying the Km-dish tribes that their victims were
approaching, and Turkish peasants were also informed that
their long-waited opportunity had arrived. The Government
even opened the prisons and set free the convicts, on the under-
standing that they should behave like good Moslems to the
approaching Armenians. Thus every caravan had a continuous
battle for existence with several classes of enemies — their
accompanying gendarmes, the Turkish peasants and villagers, the
Kurdish tribes and bands of Chetes or brigands. And we must
always keep in mind that the men who might have defended
these wayfarers had nearly all been killed or forced into the army
as workmen, and that the exiles themselves had been systematically
deprived of all weapons before the journey began.

When they had travelled a few hours from their starting-place,
the Kurds would sweep down from their mountain homes.
Rushing up to the young girls, they would hft their veils and
carry the pretty ones oft to the hills. They would steal such
children as pleased their fancy and mercilessly rob all the rest of
the throng. If the exiles had started with any money or food,
their assailants would appropriate it, thus leaving them a hope-
less prey to starvation. They would steal their clothing, and
sometimes even leave both men and women in a state of complete
nudity. ^\11 the time that they were committing these deprada-
tions the Kurds would freely massacre, and the screams of old
men and women would add to the general horror. Such as
escaped these attacks in the open would hnd new terrors awaiting
them in the Moslem villages. Here the Turkish roughs would

20 8 Secrets of the Bosphorus

fall upon the women, leaving them sometimes dead from their
experiences or sometimes ravingly insane. After spending a
night in a hideous encampment of this kind, the exiles, or such
as had survived, would start again the next morning. The
ferocity of the gendarmes apparently increased as the journey
lengthened, for they seemed almost to resent the fact that part
of their charges continued to live. Anyone who dropped on the
road was frequently bayoneted on the spot. The Armenians
began to die by hundreds from hunger and thirst. Even when
they came to rivers, the gendarmes, merely to torment them,
would sometimes not let them drink. Ihe hot sun of. the desert
burned their scantily-clothed bodies, and the bare feet, treading
the hot sand of the desert, became so sore that thousands fell
and died or were killed where they lay. Thus, in a few days,
what had been a procession of normal human beings became a
stumbling horde of dust-covered skeletons, ravenously looking
for scraps of food, eating any offal that came their way, crazed
by the hideous sights that filled every hour of their existence,
sick with all the diseases that accompany such hardships and
deprivations, but still prodded on and on by the whips and
clubs and bayonets of their executioners.

And thus, as the exiles moved they left behind them another
caravan — that of dead and unburied bodies, of old men and
women in the last stages of typhus, dysentery, and cholera,
of little children lying on their backs and setting up their
last piteous wails for food and water. There were women who
held up their babies to strangers, begging them to take them
and save them from their tormentors, and failing this, they would
throw them into wells or leave them behind bushes, that at least
they might die undisturbed. Behind was left a small army of
girls who had been sold as slaves — frequently for a medjidie, or
about eighty cents —and who, after serving the brutal purposes
of their purchasers, were forced to lead lives of prostitution. A
string of encampments filled by the sick and the dying, mingled
with the unburied or half-buried bodies of the dead, marked the
course of the advancing throngs. Flocks of vultures followed
them in the air, and ravenous dogs, fighting one another for the
bodies of the dead, constantly pursued them. The most terrible
scenes took place at the rivers, especially the Euphrates. Some-
times, when crossing this stream, the gendarmes would push the
women into the water, shooting all who attempted to save
themselves by swimming. Frequently the women themselves
would save their honour by jumping into the river, their children
in their arms. " In the last week in June," I quote from an

The Murder of a Nation 209

authentic report, " several parties of Erzeroum Armenians were
deported on successive days and most of them massacred on the
way, cither bj^ shooting or drowning. One, Madame Zarouhi,
an elderly lady of means, who was thrown into the Euphrates,
saved herself by cHnging to a boulder in the river. She suc-
ceeded in approaching the bank and returned to Erzeroum to
hide herself in a Turkish friend's house. She told Prince
Argoutinsky, the representative of the ' All-Russian Urban
I Union ' in Erzeroum, that she shuddered to recall how hundreds
of children were bayoneted by the Turks and thrown into the
Euphrates, and how men and women were stripped naked, tied
together in hundreds, shot, and then hurled into the river. In a
loop of the river near Erzinghan, she said, the thousands of dead
bodies created such a barrage that the Euphrates changed its
.course for about a hundred yards."

I It is absurd for the Turkish Government to assert that it ever

' seriously intended to " deport the Armenians to new homes " ;

the treatment which was given the convoys clearly shows that

extermination was the real purpose of Enver and Talaat. How

many exiled to the south under these revolting conditions ever

reached their destinations ? The experiences of a single caravan

shows how completely this plan of deportation developed into

one of annihilation. The details in question were furnished me

directly by the American Consul at Aleppo, and are now on file

in the State Department at Washington. On the first of June a

j convoy of 3,000 Amenians, mostly women, girls, and child-

iren, left Harpoot. Following the usual custom the Government

provided them an escort of seventy gendarmes, under the

command of a Turkish leader — Bey. In accordance with the

Icommon experience these gendarmes proved to be not their

protectors, but their tormentors and their executioners. Hardly

had they got well started on the road when . . . Bey took

400 liras from the caravan, on the plea that he was keeping it safely

until their arrival at Malatia ; no sooner had he robbed them of

the only thing that might have provided them with food than he

ran away, leaving them all to the tender mercies of the gendarmes.

All the way to Ras-ul-Ain, the first station on the Bagdad

line, the existence of these wretched travellers was one prolonged

horror. The gendarmes went ahead, informing the half-savage

tribes of the mountains that several thousand Armenian women

and girls were approaching. The Arabs and Kurds began to

carry off the girls, the mountaineers fell upon them repeatedly,

killing and violating the women, and the gendarmes themselves

joined in the orgy. One by one the few men that accompanied

210 Secrets of the Bosphorus

the convoy were killed. The women had succeeded in secreting
money from their persecutors, keeping it in their mouths and
hair ; with tliis they would buy horses, only to have them
repeatedly stolen by the Kurdish tribesmen. Finally the
gendarmes, having robbed and beaten and killed and violated
their charges for thirteen days, abandoned them altogether.
Two days afterward the Kurds went through the party and
rounded up all the males who still remained alive. They found
about 150, their ages varying from fifteen to ninety years, and
these they promptly took away and butchered to the last man.
But that same day another convoy from Sivas joined this one
from Harpoot, increasing the numbers of the whole caravan to
18,000 people.

Another Kurdish Bey now took command, and to him, as to

all men placed in the same position, the opportunity was regarded

merely as one for pillage, outrage, and murder. This chieftain

srunmoned all his followers from the mountains and invited these

to work their complete will upon this great mass of Armenians.

Day after day and night after night the prettiest girls were

carried away ; sometimes they returned in a pitiable condition

that told the full story of their sufferings. Any stragglers, those

who were so old and infirm and sick that they could not keep up

with the marches, were promptly killed. Whenever they reached

a Turkish village all the local vagabonds were permitted to prey

upon the Armenian girls. When the diminishing band reached

the Euphrates they saw the bodies of 200 men floating upon

the surface. By this time they had all been so repeatedly

robbed that they had practically nothing left except a few

ragged clothes, and even these the Kurds now took, the con

sequence being that the whole convoy marched for five days

completely naked under the scorching desert sun. For another

five days thej^ did not have a morsel of bread or a drop of water.

'' Hundreds fell dead on the way," the report reads ; " their

tongues were turned to charcoal, and when, at the end of five

days, they reached a fountain, the whole convoy naturally

rushed toward it. But here the policemen barred the way and

forebade them to take a single drop of water. Their purpose

was to sell it at from one to three liras a cup, and sometimes

they actually withheld the water after getting the money. At

another place, where there were wells, some women threw them

selves into them, as there was no rope or pail to draw up the'

water. These women were drowned and, in spite of that, the

rest of the people drank from that well, the dead bodies still

remaining there and polluting the water. Sometimes when the

The Murder of a Nation 2 it

wells were shallow and the women could go dow^n into them and
come out again, the other people would rush to lick or suck their
wet, dirty clothes, in the effort to quench their thirst. When
they passed an Arab village in their naked condition the Arabs
pitied them and gave them old pieces of cloth to cover them-
selves with. Some of the exiles who still had money bought
some clothes : but some still remained who travelled thus naked
all the way to the city of Aleppo. The poor women cculd
hardly walk for shame ; they all walked bent double."

On the seventieth day a few creatures reached Aleppo. Out
of the combined convey of 18,000 souls just 150 women and
children reached their destination. A few of the rest, the most
attractive, were still hving as captives of the Kurds and Turks ;
all the rest were dead.

My only reason for relating such dreadful things as this is
that, without the details, the English-speaking public cannot
understand precisely what this nation is wliich we call Turkey.
I have by no means told the most terrible details, for a complete
narration of the sadistic orgies of which these Armenian men
and women were the victims can never be printed in an American
publication. Whatever crimes the most perverted instincts of
the human mind can devise, and whatever refinements of persecu-
tion and injustice the most debased imagination can conceive,
became the daily misfortunes of this devoted people. I am
confident that the whole history of the human race contains no
yuch horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecu-
tions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the
sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915. The slaughter of the
Albigenses in the early part of the thirteenth century has always
been regarded as one of the most pitiful events in history. In
these outbursts of fanaticism about 60,000 people were killed.
In the massacre of St. Bartholomew about 30,000 human beings
lost their lives. The Sicilian Vespers, which has always figured
as one of the most fiendish outbursts of this kind, caused the
cltstruction of 8,000. Volumes have been written about the
Spanish Inquisition under Torquemada, yet in the eighteen years
< t his administration only a httlc more than 8,000 heretics were
(lone to death. Perhaps the one event in history that most
nsembles the Armenian deportations was the expulsion of the
Jtws from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. According to
Prescott 160,000 were uprooted from their homes and scattered
broadcast over Africa and Europe. Yet all these previous
piTsecutions seem almost trivial when we compare them with the
-ufferings of the Armenians, in which at least 600,000 people

212 Secrets of the Bosphorus

were destroyed and perhaps as many as 1,000,000. And these
earlier massacres, when we compare them v/ith the spirit that
directed the Armenian atrocities, have one feature that we can
almost describe as an excuse : they were the product of religious
fanaticism, and most of the men and women who instigated them
sincerely believed that they were devoutly serving their Maker.
Undoubtedly religious fanaticism was an impelling motive with
the Turkish and Kurdish rabble who slew Armenians as a service
to Allah, but the men who really conceived the crime had no such
motive. Practically all of them were atheists, with no more
respect for Mohammedanism than for Christianity, and with
them the one motive was a cold-blooded, calculating state poHcy.

The Armenians are not the only subject people in Turkey
who have suffered from this policy of making Turkey ex-
clusively the country of the Turks. The story which I have told
about the Armenians I could also tell with certain modifications
about the Greeks and the Syrians. Indeed, the Greeks were the
first victims of this nationalising idea. I have already described
how, in the few months preceding the European war, the Ottoman
Government began deporting its Greek subjects along the coast
of Asia Minor. These outrages aroused little interest in Europe
or the United States, yet in the space of three or four months
about 400,000 Greeks were taken from their age-long homes in
the Mediterranean littoral and removed to the Greek Islands in
the ^gean Sea. For the larger part these were bona fide deporta-
tions ; that is, the Greek inhabitants were actually removed to
new places and were not subjected to wholesale massacre. It
was probably for the reason that the civilised world did not
protest against these deportations that the Turks afterward
decided to apply the same methods on a larger scale not only to
the Greeks but to the Armenians, Syrians, Nestorians, and others
of its subject peoples. In fact, Bedri Bey, the Prefect of Police
at Constantinople, himself told one of my secretaries that the
Turks had expelled the Greeks so successfully that they had
decided to adopt the same method to all the other races in the
•empire.

The martyrdom of the Greeks therefore comprised two
periods, that antedating the war, and that which began in the
early part of 1915. The first affected the Greeks living on thei
sea-coast of Asia Minor. The second affected those living in
Thrace and in the territories surrounding the Sea of Marmora,
the Dardanelles, the Bosphorus, and the coast of the Black Sea,
These latter, to the extent of several hundred thousand, were
sent to the interior of Asia Minor. The Turks adopted almost

The Murder of a Nation 213

identically the same procedure against the Greeks as that which
they had adopted against the Annenians. They began by
incorporating the Greeks into the Ottoman Army and then trans-
forming them into labour battahons, using them to build roads
in the Caucasus and other scenes of action. These Greek
soldiers, just like the Armenians, died by thousands from cold,
hunger, and other privations. The same house-to-house searches
for hidden weapons took place in the Greek villages, and Greek
men and women were beaten and tortured just as were their
fellow Armenians. The Greeks had to submit to the same forced
requisitions, which amounted in their case, as in the case of the
Armenians, merely to plundering on a wholesale scale. The
Turks attempted to force the Greek subjects to become Moham-
medans ; Greek girls, just like Armenian girls, were stolen and
taken to Turkish harems, and Greek bo3's were kidnapped and
placed in Moslem households. The Greeks, just like the Arme-
nians, were accused of disloyalty to the Ottoman Govern-
ment ; the Turks accused them of furnishing supplies to the
Enghsh submarines in the Marmora and also of acting as spies.
The Turks also declared that the Greeks were not lo3^al to the
Ottoman Government, but that they also locked forward to the
day when the Greeks outside of Turkey would become part of
Greece. These latter charges were unquestionably true ; that
the Greeks, after suffering for five centuries the most unspeakable
outrages at the hands of the Turks, should look longingly to the
day when their territory should be part of the Fatherland, was
to be expected. The Turks, as in the case of the Armenians,
seized upon this as an excuse for a violent onslaught on the whole
race. Everywhere the Greeks Vv'ere gathered in groups and,
under the so-called protection of Turkish gendarmes, they were
transported, the larger part on foot, into the interior. Just how
many were scattered in this fashion is not definitely known, the
estimates varying anywhere from 200,000 up to 1,000,000. These
caravans suffered great privations, but they were not submitted
to general massacre as were the Armenians, and this is probably
the reason why the outside world has not heard so much about
them. The Turks showed them tliis greater consideration not
from any motive of pity. The Greeks, unlike the Armenians,
had a Government which was vitally interested in their welfare.
At this time there was a general appreiiension among the Teutonic
Allies that Greece would enter the war on the side of the Entente,
and a wholesale massacre of Greeks in Asia Minor would un-
questionabl}' have produced such a state of mind in Greece that
its pro-German king would have been unable longer to have kept

214 Secrets of the Bosphorus

his country out of the war. It was only a matter of state policy,
therefore, that saved these Greek subjects of Turkey from all the
horrors that befell the Armenians. But their sufferings are still
terrible, and constitute another chapter in the long story of
crimes for which civilisation will hold the Turk responsible.

CHAPTER XXV

TALAAT TELLS WHY HE " ANNIHILATES " THE ARMENIANS

It was some time before the story of the Armenian atrocities
reached the American Embassy in all their horrible details. In
January and February fragmentary reports began to filter in,
but the tendency was at first to regard them as mere manifesta-
tions of the disorders that had prevailed in the Armenian pro-
vinces for many years. When the reports came from Urumia
both Enver and Talaat dismissed them as wild exaggerations,
and when for the first time we heard of the disturbances at Van,
these Turkish officials declared that they were nothing more
than a mob uprising which they would soon have under control.
I now see what was not apparent in those early months, that the
Turkish Government was determined to keep the news, as long
as possible, from the outside world. It was clearly the intention
that Europe and America should hear of the annihilation of
the Armenian race only after that annihilation had been
accompUshed. As the country which the Turks particularly
wished to keep in ignorance was the United States, they resorted
to most shameless prevarications when discussing the situation
with myself and with my staff.

In early April the authorities arrested about two hundred
Armenians in Constantinople and sent them into the interior.
Many of those who were then deported were educational and
social leaders and men who were prominent in industry and in
finance. I knew many of these men and therefore felt a personal
interest in their misfortunes. But when I spoke to Talaat about
their expulsion, he repUed that the Government was acting in
self-defence. The Armenians at Van, he said, had already
shown their abihties as revolutionists ; he knew that these
leaders in Constantinople were corresponding with the Russians,
and he had every reason to fear that they would start an in-
surrection against the Central Governnient. The safest plan,
therefore, was to send them to Angora and other interior towns.
Talaat denied that this was part of any general concerted scheme
to rid the city of its Armeman population, and insisted tliat the
Armenian masses in Constantinople would not be disturbed.

21 6 Secrets of the Bosphorus

But soon the accounts from the interior became more specific
and more disquieting. The withdrawal of the AUied fleet from
the Dardanelles produced a distinct change in the atmosphere.
Until then there were numerous indications that all was not
going well in the Armenian provinces ; when it at last became
definitely established, however, that the traditional friends of
Armenia, Great Britain, France, and Russia, could do nothing to
help that suffering people, the mask began to disappear. In
April I was suddenl}^ deprived of the privilege of using the cipher
for communicating with American Consuls. The most rigorous
censorship also was applied to letters. Such measures could
mean only that things were happening in Asia Minor which the
authorities were determined to conceal. But they did not
succeed. Though all sorts of impediments were placed to
travelling, certain Americans, chiefly missionaries, succeeded in
getting through. For hours they would sit in my ofiice and,
with tears streaming down their faces, tell me of the horrors
through which they had passed. Many of these, both men and
women, were almost broken in health from the scenes which they
had witnessed. In many cases they brought me letters from
American Consuls, confirming the most dreadful of their narra-
tions and adding many unprintable details. The general purport
of all these first-hand reports was that the utter depravity and
fiendishness of the Turkish nature, already sufficiently celebrated
through the centuries, had now surpassed itself. There was only
one hope of saving nearly 2,000,000 people from massacre,
starvation, and even worse, I was told — that was the moral power
of the United States. These spokesmen of a condemned nation
declared that, unless the American Ambassador could persuade
the Turk to stay his destro5dng arm, the whole Armenian nation
must disappear. It was not only American and Canadian
missionaries who made this personal appeal. Several of their
German associates begged me to intercede. These men and
women confirmed all the worst things which I had heard, and
they were unsparing in denouncing their own Fatherland. They
did net conceal the humiliation which they felt as Germans in the
fact that their own nation was allied with a people that could
perpetrate such infamies, but they understood German policy
well enough to know that Germany would not intercede. There
was no use in expecting aid from the Kaiser, they said — America
must stop the massacres, or the}' would go on.

Technically, of course, I had no right to interfere. According
to the cold-blooded legalities of the situation, the treatment of
Turkish subjects by the Turkish Government was purely a

Talaat tells why he ♦♦ annihilates " the Armenians 217

domestic affair ; unless it directly affected American lives and
American interests it was outside the concern of the American
Government. When I first approached Talaat on the subject
he called my attention to this fact in no uncertain terms. This
interview was one of the most exciting which I had had up to that
time. Two missionaries had just called upon me, giving the full
details of the frightful happenings at Konia. After listening to
their stories I could not restrain myself, and went immediately
to the Sublime Porte. I saw at once that Talaat was in one of
his most ferocious .states of mind. For months he had been
attempting to secure the release of two of his closest friends,
Ayoub Sabri and Zinnoun, who were held as prisoners by the
English at Malta. His failure in this matter was a constant
grievance and irritation ; he was always talking about it, always
making new suggestions for getting his friends back to Turkey,
and always appealing to me for help. So furious did the Turkish
Boss become when thinking about his absent friends that we
usually referred to these manifestations as Talaat in his " Ayoub
Sabri moods." This particular morning the Minister of the
Interior was in one of his worst " Ayoub Sabri moods." Once
more he had been working for the release of the exiles, and once
more he had failed. As usual, he attempted to preserve outer
calm and courtesy to me, but his short, snappy phrases, bis bull-
dog rigidity, and his wrists planted on the table showed that it
was an unfavourable moment to stir him to any sense of pity or
remorse. I first spoke to him about a Canadian missionary.
Dr. McNaughton, who was receiving harsh treatment in Asia
Minor.

"The man is an English agent," he replied, "and we have
the evidence for it."

" Let me see it," I asked.

" We'll do nothing for any Englishman or any Canadian," he
repUed, " until they release Ayoub and Zinnoun."

" But you promised to treat English in the employ of Ameri-
cans as Americans," I repHcd. *

" That may be," rejoined the Minister, " but a promise is not
made to be kept for ever. I withdraw that promise now. There
is a time limit on a promise."

" But if a promise is not binding, what is ? " I asked.

" A guarantee," Talaat answered quickly.

This fine Turkish distinction had a certain metaphysical
interest, but I had more practical matters to discuss at that time.
So I began to talk about the Armenians at Konia. I had started,
when Talaat 's attitude became even more belligerent. His eyes

2i8 Secrets of the Bosphorus

lighted up, he brought his jaws together, leaned over toward me,
and snapped out :

" Are they Americans ? "

The imphcations of this question were hardly diplomatic ;
it was merely a way of telling me that the matter was none of
my business. In a moment Talaat said this in so many words.

" The Armenians are not to be trusted," he said ; " besides,
what we do with them does not concern the United States."

I replied that I regarded myself as the friend of the Armenians
and was shocked at the way that they were being treated. But
he shook his head and refused to discuss the matter. I saw that
nothing could be gained by forcing the issue at that time. I
spoke on behalf of another British subject who was not being
treated properly.

" He's English, isn't he ? " answered Talaat. " Then I shall
do as I like with him ! "

" Eat him, if you wish ! " I repHed.

" Oh," said Talaat, " he would go against my digestion."

He was altogether in a reckless mood. " Gott strafe Eng-
land ! " he shouted, using one of the few German phrases that
he knew. " As to your Armenians, we don't give a rap for the
future ! We live only in the present ! As to the EngHsh, I wish
you would telegraph Washington that we shall not do a thing for
them until they let out Ayoub Sabri and Zinnoun ! "

Then, leaning over, he struck a pose, pressed his hand to his
head, and said in EngUsh — I think this must have been almost
all the English he knew :

" Ayoub Sabri — he — my — brudder ! "

Despite this, I made another plea for Dr. McNaughton.

" He's not American," said Talaat, " he's a Canadian."

" It's almost the same thing," I said.

" Well," replied Talaat, " if I let him go will you promise
that the United States will annex Canada ? "

" I promise," said I, and we both laughed at this Uttie joke.

" Every time you come here," Talaat finally said, " you
always steal something from me. All right, you can have your
McNaughton ! "

Certainly this interview was not an encouraging beginning, so
far as the Armenians were concerned. But Talaat was noti
always in an " Ayoub Sabri mood." He went from one emotion
to another as lightly as a child ; I would find him fierce and
.un3delding one day, and uproariously good-natured and accom-
modating the next. Prudence indicated, therefore, that I should '^j
await one of his more congenial moments before approacliing liim

Talaat tells why he " annihilates " the Armenians 219

on the subject that aroused all the barbarity in his 'nature. Such
an opportunity soon presented itself. One day, soon after the
interview chronicled above, I called on Talaat again. The first
thing he did was to open his desk and pull out a handful of
yellow cablegrams.

" Why don't you give this money to us ? " he said, with a
grin.

" What money ? " I asked.

" Here is a cablegram for you from America, sending you a
lot of money for the Armenians. You ought not to use it that
way : give it to us Turks, we need it as badly as they do."

" I have not received any such cablegram," I replied.

" Oh no, but you will," he answered. " I always get all your
cablegrams tirst, you know. After I have finished reading them
I send them around to you."

This statement w^as the hteral truth. Every morning all the
open cablegrams received in Constantinople were forwarded to
Talaat, who read them all before consenting to their being
forwarded to their destination. Even the cablegrams of the
Ambassadors were apparently not exempt, though, of course, the
ciphered messages were not interfered with. Ordinarily I might
have protested against this infringement of my rights, but Talaat 's
engaging frankness in pilfering my correspondence, and in even
waving my own cablegrams in my face, gave me an excellent
opening to introduce the forbidden subject.

I thought I would be a little tactful, and so began by suggest-
ing that the Central Government was probably not to blame for
the massacres.

But on this occasion, as on many others, Talaat was evasive
and non-committal, and showed much hostiUty to the interest
which the American people were manifesting in the Armenians.
He explained his policy on the ground that the Amienians were
in constant correspondence with the Russians. The definite
impression which these conversations left upon me was that
Talaat was the most implacable enemy of this persecuted race.
" He gave me the impression," such is the entry which I find in
my diary on August 3rd, " that Talaat is the one who desires to
crush the poor Armenians." He told me that the Union and
Progress Committee had carefully considered the matter in all
iis details, and that the policy which was being pursued was that
wliich they had officially adopted. He said that I must not get
the idea that the deportations had been decided upon hastily ;
in reality they wore the result of prolonged and careful delibera-
tion, lo my repeated appeals that he should show mercy to

220 Secrets of the Bosphorus

these people he sometimes responded seriously, sometimes
angrily, and sometimes flippantly.

" Some day," he once said, " I will come and discuss the
whole Armenian subject with you," and then he added in a low
tone in Turkish, " But that day will never come."

" Why are you interested in the Armenians, anyway ? " he
said on another occasion. " You are a Jew ; these people are
Christians. The Mohammedans and the Jew^s always get on
harmoniously. We are treating the Jews here all right. What
have you to complain of ? Why can't you let us do with these
Christians as we please ? "

I had always remarked that the Turks regard practically
every question as a personal matter, yet this point oi view rather
stunned me. It was, however, a complete revelation of Turkish
mentahty ; the fact that, above all considerations of race and
religion, there are such things as humanity and civilisation never
for a moment enters their mind. They can understand a
Christian fighting for a Christian and a Jew fighting for a Jew,
but such abstractions as justice and decency form no part of
their conception of things.

" You dcn't seem to realise," I replied, '" that I am not here
as a Jew, but as American Ambassador. My country contains
something more than 97,000,000 Christians and something less
than 3,000,000 Jews. So, at least in my ambassadorial capacity,
I am 97 per cent. Christian. But, after ail, that is not the point
I do not appeal to you in the name of any race or any religion
but merely as a hum.an being. You have told me many times
that you want to make Turkey a part of the modern progressive
world. The way you are treating the Arm.enians wil) not help
you to realise that ambition ; it puts you in the class of backward,^
reactionary peoples."

" We treat the Americans ail right, too," said Talaat, " I don't
see why you should complain."

" But Am.ericans are outraged at your persecutions of the
Armenians," I rephed. " You must base your principles on
himianitarianism, not racial discrimination, or the United States
will not regard you as a friend and an equal. And ^i'ou should
understand the great changes that are taking place among
Christians all over the world. They are forgetting their
differences and all sects are coming together as one. You lool^
down on American missionaries, but don't forget that it is the
best element in America that supports their work, especially theii
educational institutions!*^ Americans are not mere materialists,'
always chasing money — they are broadly humanitarian, and
interested in the spread of justice and civilisation throughout the

Talaat tells why he " annihilates " the Armenians 221

world. \ After this war is over you will face a new situation. You
say that if victorious you can defy the world, but you are wrong.
You will have to meet public opinion everywhere, especially in
the United States. Our people will never forget these massacres.
They nWH always resent the wilful destruction of Christians in
Turkey. They will lock upon it as nothing but wilful murder,
and will seriously conde'nm ail the men who arc- responsible for it.
You will not be able to protect yourself under your political status
and say that 3^ou acted as Minister of the Interior and not as
Talaat. You are defying all ideas of justice as we understand
the term in our country."

Strangely enough, these remarks did not offend Talaat, but
they did not shake his determination. I might as well have been
, talking to a stone wall. From my abstractions he immediately
came down to something definite.

" These people," he said, " refused to disarm when we told
them to. They opposed us at Van and at Zeitoun, and they
helped the Russians. There is only one way in which we can
defend ourselves against them in the future, and that is just to
deport them." f2>wvrtT s^-jvi ', --

" Suppose a few Armenians did betray you," I said. " Is
that a reason for destroying a whole race ? Is that an excuse for
making innocent women and children suffer ? "
" Those things are inevitable," he replied.
This remark to me was not quite so illuminating a? one which
he made subsequently to a reporter of the Berliner Tagehlatt, who
asked him the same question. " We have been reproached," he
said, according to this interviewer, " for making no distinction
between the innocent Armenians and the guilty ; but that was
utterly impossible in view of the fact that those who were
innocent to-day might be guilty to-morrow " !

My repeated protestations evidently persuaded Talaat that
at least I was entitled to an explanation of the official attitude of
the Ottoman Government. In the early part of August, there-
fore, he sent a personal messenger to me, asking me if I could
not see him alone, as he wished to go over the whole Armenian
situation. This was the fi.rst time that Talaat had admitted that
i his treatment of the Annenians was a matter with which I had
I any concern. The interview took place two days afterwards.
; It so happened that since the last time I had visited Talaat I had
I shaved my beard. As soon as I came in the burly Minister
I began talking in liis customary bantering fashion. " You have
I become a young man again," he said ; " you are so young now
\ that I cannot come to you for advice any more."
\ " I have shaved my beard," I replied, " because it had

222 Secrets of the Bosphorus

become very grey — made grey by your treatment of the
Armenians."

After this exchange of compliments we settled down to the
business in hand. " Whenever you have any Armenian matters
to discuss," Talaat began, " T should always prefer that you see
me alone. I have asked you to come to-day so that I can
explain our position on the whole Armenian subject. We base
our objections to the Armenians on three distinct grounds. In
the first place, they have enriched themselves at the expense of
the Turks. In the second place, they are determined to domineer
over U5. and to establish a separate State. In the third place, they
have openly encouraged our enemies. They have assisted the
Russians in the Caucasus, and our failure there is largel}^ explained
bj^ their actions. We have therefore come to the irrevocable
decision that we shall make them powerless before this war is
ended."

On every one of these points I had plenty of argum.ents and
rebuttal. Talaat's first objection was merely an admission that
the Armenians were more industrious and more able than the
thick- Vv'itted and lazy Turk. Massacre as a means of destroying
business competition was certainly an original conception ! His
general charge that the Armenians were " conspiring " against
Turkey, and that they openly sympathised with Turkey's enemaes, i
merely meant, when reduced to its oiiginal elements, that the
Armenians were constantly appealing to the European Powers to \
protect them against robbery, murder, and outrage. The
Armenian problem, like all race problems, v/as the result of
centuries of ill-treatment and injustice. There could be only one
solution for it, the creation of an orderly system of government,
in which all citizens were to be treated upon an equalit}', and in
which all offences were to be punished as the acts of individuals,
and not as of peoples. I argued for a long time along these and :
similar lines.

" It is no use for you to argue," Talaat answered,. " we have
already disposed of three-quarters of the Armenians ; there are
none at ail left in Bitlis, Van, and Erzeroum. The hatred
between the Turks and the Armenians is now so intense that we
have got to finish with them. If we don't, they will plan their
revenge."

" If you are not influenced by humane considerations," I
replied, " think of the material loss. These people are your
business men. They control many of j'-our industries. They are
your largest tax-payers. What would become of you com-
mercially without them ? "

Talaat tells why he " annihilates " the Armenians 223

" We care nothing about the commercial loss," replied
Talaat. " We have figured all that out and we know that it
will not exceed five million pounds. We don't worry about that.
I have asked you to come here so as to let you know that our
Armenian policy is absolutely fixed and that nothing can change
it. We will not have the Armenians anywhere in Anatolia.
They can live in the desert, but nowhere else."

I still attempted to persuade Talaat that the treatment of
the Aimenians was destroying Turkey in the eyes of the world,
and that Ids country would never be able to recover from this
infamy.

" You are making a tenible mistake," I said, and repeated
the statement three times.

" Yes, we may make mistakes," he replied, " but " — and he
firmly closed his hps and shook his head — " we never regret."

I had many talks Viith Talaat on the Armenians, but I never
succeeded in moving him in the slightest degree. He always
came back to the points which he made in this interview. He was
very willing to grant any request I made on behalf of the Ameri-
cans, or even of the French and English, but I could obtain no
general concessions for the Armenians. He seemed to me
always to have the deepest personal feeling in this matter. His
antagonism to the Armenians seemed to increase as their suffer-
ings increased. One day, discussing a particular Armenian, I
told Talaat that he was mistaken in regarding this man as an
i enemy of the Turks ; that in reality he was their friend.

" No Armenian," replied Talaat, '.' can be our friend after
what we have done to them."

One da}^ Talaat made what was perhaps the most astonishing
request I had ever heard. The New York Life Insurance
Company and the Equitable Life of New York had for years done
considerable business among the Armenians. The extent to
which they insured their lives was merely another indication of
their thrifty habits.

" I wish," Talaat row said, " that you would get the American
life insurance companies to send us a com.plete list of their
Armenian policy-holders. They aie practically all dead now,
and have left no heirs to collect the money. It, of course, all
'^scheats to the State. The Government is the beneficiary now.
Will you do so ? "

This was almost too much, and I lost my temper.

" You will get no such fists from me," I said, and got up and
I ft him.

One other episode involving the Armenians stirred Talaat to

224 Secrets of the Bosphorus

one of his most ferocious moods. In the latter part of September
Mrs. Morgenthan left for America. The sufferings of the Arme-
nians had greatly preyed upon her mind, and she really left
for home tecause she could not any longer endure to live in such
a country. But she deteiTnined to make one last intercession
for this poor people on her own account. Her way home took
her through Bulgaria, and she had received an intimation that
Queen Eleanor of that country would be glad to receive her.
Perhaps it was Mrs. Morgenthau's well-known interest in social
work that led to this invitation. Queen Eleanor was a high-
minded woman, who had led a sad and lonely existence, and who
w^as spending most of her time attempting to improve the con-
dition of the poor in Bulgaria. She knew all about social work
in the American cities, and a few years before she had made all
her plans to visit the Urdted States in order to study our settle-
ments at first hand. At the time of Mrs. Morgenthau's visit the
Queen had two American nurses from the Henry Street Settle-
ment of New York instructing a group of Bulgarian girls in the
methods of the American Red Cross.

My wife was mainly interested in visiting the Queen in order
that, as one woman to another, she might make a plea for the
Armenians. At that time the question of Bulg.aria's entrance
into the war had reached a critical stage, and Turkey was pre-
pared to make concessions to gain her as an ally. It was therefore
a propitious moment to make such an appeal.

The Queen received Mrs. Morgenthau informally, and my wife
spent about an hour telling her all about the Armenians. Most
of what she said was entirely new to the Queen. Little had yet
appeared in the European Press en this subject, and Queen
Eleanor was precisely the kind of woman from whom the truth
would be concealed as long as possible. Mrs. Morgenthau gave
her all the facts about the treatment of Armenian women and
children and asked her to intercede on their behalf. She even
went so far as to suggest that it w^ould be a terrible tfdng for
Bulgaria, which in the past had herself suffered such atrocities at
the hands of the Turks, now to become their allies in war. Queen
Eleanor was greatly moved. She thanked my wife for telling
her these truths and said that she would intercede immediately
and see if something could not be done.

Just as Mrs. IMorgenthau was getting ready to leave she sawj
the Duke of Mecklenburg standing near the door. The Duke was T
in Sofia at that time attempting to arrange for Bulgaria's partici-
pation in the war. The Queen introduced him to Mrs. Morgen-
thau ; his Highness was polite, but hjs air was rather cold anc ,

Talaat tells why he ♦' annihilates " the Armenians 225

injured. His whole manner, particularly the stern glances v;hich
he cast on Mrs. Morgenthau, showed that he had heard a con-
siderable part of the conversation ! As he was exerting all his
efforts to bring Bulgaria in on Germany's side, it is not surprising
that he did not relish the hope which Mrs. Morgenthau expressed
to the Queen that Bulgaria should not ally herself with Tmkey.

Queen Eleanor immediately interested herself in the Armenian
cause, and, as a result, the Bulgarian Minister to Turkey was
instructed to protest against the atrocities. This protest
accomplished nothing, but it did arouse Talaat's momentary
wrath against the American Ambassador. A few days afterward,
when routine business called me to the Sublime Porte, I found him
in an exceedingly ugly humour. He answered most of my
questions savagely and in monosyllables, and I was afterward
told that Mrs. Morgenthau's intercession with the Queen had put
him into this mood. In a few days, however, he was as good-
natured as ever ; for Bulgaria had taken sides with Turkey.

Talaat's attitude toward the Armenians was summed up in
the proud boast which he made to his friends : " I have accom-
plished more toward solving the Amienian problem in three
months than Abdul Hamid accomphshed in thirty years ! "

CHAPTER XXVI

ENVER PASHA DISCUSSES THE ARMENIANS

All this time I was bringing pressure upon Enver also. The
Minister of War, as I have already indicated, was a different type
of man from Talaat He concealed his real feelings much more
successfully ; he was usually suave, cold-blooded, and scrupu-
lously polite. And at first he was by no means so callous as
Talaat in discussing the Armenians. He dismissed the early
stories as wild exaggerations, declared that the troubles at Van
were merely ordinary warfare, and attempted to quiet my fears
that the wholesale annihilation of the Armenians had been
decided on. Yet all the time that Enver was attempting to
deceive me he was making open admissions to other people —a
fact of which I was aware. In particular, he made no attempt to
conceal the real situation from Dr. I.epsius, a representative of
German missionary interests. Dr. Lepsius was a high-minded
Christian gentleman. He had been all through the Armenian
massacres of 1895, and he had raised considerable sums of money
to buOd orphanages for Armenian children who had lost their
parents at that time. He came again in 1915 to investigate the
Armenian situation on behalf of German missionary interests.
He asked for the privilege of inspecting the repoils of American
Consuls, and I granted it. These documents, supplemented by
other information which Dr. Lepsius derived largely from
German missionaries in the interior, left no doubt in his mind as
to the policy of the Turks. His feelings were aroused cliiefly
against his own Government. He expressed to me the humilia-
tion which he felt, as a German, that the Turks should deliberately
set about to exterminate their Christian subjects while Gennany,
ostensibly a Christian country, was making no endeavours to
prevent it. To him Enver scarcely concealed the official purpose.
Dr. Lepsius was simply staggered by his frankness, for Enver
told liim in so many words that they at last had an opportunity
to rid themselves of the Anrienians and that they proposed to
use it.

By this time Enver had become more frank with me — the
circumstantial reports which I possessed made it useless for him

Enver Pasha Discusses the Armenians 227

to attempt to conceal the true situation further — and we had
many long and animated discussions on the subject. One of
these I recall with particular vividness. I notified Enver that I
intended to take up the matter in detail, and he laid aside enough
time to go over the whole situation.

" The Armenians had a fair warning," Enver began, " of what
would happen to t?iem in case they joined our enemies. Three
months ago I sent for the Amienian Patriarch and told him
that if the Armenians attempted to start a revolution, or to assist
the Russians, I would be unable to prevent mischief from happen-
ing to them. My warning produced no effect, and the Armenians
started a revolution and helped the Russians. You know what
happened at Van. They obtained control of the city, used
bombs against Government buildings, and killed a large number
of Moslems. We knew that they were planning uprisings in
other places. You must understand that we are now fighting
for our lives at the Dardanelles, and that we are sacrificing
thousands of men^(\Vhile we are engaged in such a struggle as
this we carmot permit people in our ov/n country to attack us in
the back.") We have got to prevent this, no matter what means
we have to resort to. It is absolutely true that I am not opposed
to the Armenians as a people. I have the greatest admiration
for their intelligence and industry, and I should like nothing
better than to see them become a real part of our nation. But if
they ally themselves with our enemies, as they did in the Van
district, they will have to be destroyed. I have taken pains to
see that no injustice is done ; only recently I gave orders to have
three Armenians who had been deported returned to their homes
when I found that they were innocent. Russia, France, Great
Britain and America are doing the Armenians no kindness by
sympathising with and encouraging them. I know what such
encouragement micans to a people who are inclined to revolution.
When our Union and Progress Party attacked Abdul Ilamid we
received all our moral encouragement from the outside world.
This enco\iragement was of great help to us and b.ad much to do
with our success. It might similarly now help the Armenians
and their revolutionary programme. I am sure that if these
outside countries did not encourage them they would give up
their efforts to oppose the present Government and become
law-al)iding citizens. We now have this country in our absolute
control, and we can easily revenge ourselves on any revolutionists.'

' 'After all," I said, " suppose what you say is true, why not
punish tlic guilty ? Why sacrifice a whole race for' the alleged
crimes of individuals ? "

228 Secrets of the Bosphorus

".Your point is all right dining peace times," replied Enver.
" We can then use Platonic means to quiet Armenians and
Greeks ; but in time of war we cannot investigate and negotiate.
We must act promptly and with determination. I also think
that the Armenians are making a mistake in depending upon the
Russians. The Russians really would rather see them killed
than alive. They are as great a danger to the Russians as they
are to us. If they should form an independent government in
Turke\', the Armenians in Russia would attempt to form an
independent government there. The Armenians have also been
guilty of massacres. In the entire district around Van only
30,000 Turks escaped ; all the rest were murdered by the Arme-
nians and Kuids. I attempted to protect the non-ccmbatants
at the Caucasus ; I gave orders that they should not be injured,
but I found that the situation was beyond my control. There
are about 70,000 Armenians in Constantinople, and they will not
be molested, except those who are Dashnaguists and those who
are plotting against the Turks. However, I think you can ease
your mind on the whole subject, as there will be no more massacres
of Armenians."

I did not take seriously Enver's concluding statement. At
the time that he was speaking massacres and deportations were
taking place all over the Armenian provinces, and they went on
almost without interruption for several months.

As soon as the reports reached the United States the question
of relief became a pressing one. In the latter part of July I
heard that there were 5,000 Armenians from Zeitoun and Sultanie
who were receiving no food whatever. I spoke about them to
Enver, who positively declared that they would receive proper
food. He did not receive favourably any suggestion that
American representatives should go to that part of the country
and assist and care for the exiles.

" For any American to do this," he said, '* would encourage
all Armenians and make further trouble. There are about
28,000,000 people in Turkey, and i, coo ,000 Armenians, and
we do not propose to have 1,000,000 disturb the peace of
the rest of the population. The great trouble with the
Armenians is that they are sej)aratists. They are determined to
have a kingdom of their own, and they have allowed themselves
to be fooled by the Russians. Because the}^ ha\'e relied upon the
friendship of the Russians they have helped them in this war.
We are determined that they behave just as Turks do. You must
remember that when we started this revolution in Turkey there j
were onlv 200 of us. With these few followers we were

Enver Pasha Discusses the Armenians 229

able to deceive the Sultan and the public, who thought that \vc
were immen-ch' more numerous and powerful than we were. We
really prevailed upon him and the public through our sheer
audacity, and in tliis way established the Constitution. It is our
own experience at revolution which makes us fear the Armenians.
If 2C0 Turks could overturn the Government, then a few
hundred bright, educated i\rmcnians could do the same thing.
We have therefore deliberately adopted the plan of scattering
them so that they can do u-^ no harm. As I told you once before,
I warned the Armenian Patriarch that if the Armenians attacked
us while we were engaged in a foreign war we Turks would
hit back, and that we should hit back indiscriminateh'."

Enver always resented any suggestion that American
missionaries or other friends of the Amienians should go to help
or comfort them.

" The}' show altogether too much sympathy for them," he
said over and over again.

I liad suggested that particular Americans should go to Tarsus
and Marsovan.

" If they should go there, I am afraid that the local people in
those cities would become angry, and they would be incHnedto
start seme disturbance which might cieo.te an incident. It is
better for the Armenians themselves, therefore, thot the American
missionaries should keep away from them."

" But yoir are ruining the country economicall}'," I said at
another time, making the same pornt that I had made to Talaat.
And he answered it in almost the same words, thus showing that
the subject had been complete!}' cam assed by the rirling power.--.

" Economic considerations are of no importance at this time.
The onl}' important thing is to wm. That's the only thing we
have on our mind. If we v.in, every tiring will be all right ; if
we lose, everything will be all wrong, anyhow. Our situation is
desperate, I admit i*-, and we ai-e frghting as desperate men
light. We are not going to let the Armeniairs attack us in the
rear."

The question of relief to the starving Armenians became
every week a more pressing one. Enver still insisted that
.Americans should keep away from the Armenian provinces.

" How can we furnish bread to the Armenians," Enver
dockired, " wlien we can't get it for our own people ? I know
tliat they arc suffeiing and that it is quite hkciy that they cannot
get bread at all this coming winter. But we have the utmost
difficulty in getting flour and clothing right here in Constan-
tinople."

230 Secrets of the Bosphorus

I said thai I had the money and that Aniericaii missionaries
were anxious to go and use it for the benefit of the refugees,

"We don', want the Americans to Jeed the Armenians,' he
flatly replied. " That is one of the worst things that could
happen to them. I have an-eady said tliat it is their belief that
they have friends in other countries, which leads them to oppose
the Government and so brings down upon tJiem all their miseries.
If you Americans begin to distribute food and clothing among
them, they will then think that they have powerful friends in the
United States. This will encourage them to rebellion again, and
then we shall have to punish them still more. If you will give
such moriey as you have received to the Turks, we shall see that
it is used for the benefit of the Armenians."

Enver made this proposal with a straight face, and he made
it not only on this occasion but on several others. At the very
nioir.ent that Enver suggested this mechanism of relief, the
Turkish gendarmes and the Turkish officials were not only
robbing the Armenians of all their household possessions, of all
their food and all their money, but they were even stripping
women of their last shreds of clothing and prodding their naked
bodies with bayonets as they staggered across the burning
desert. And the Minister of War now proposed that we give our
American money to these same guardians of the law for distribu-
tion among their charges ! However, I had to be tactfu'.

" If you or other heads of the Government would become
personally responsible for the distribution," I said, " of course
we would be glad to entrust the money to you. But, naturally,
you would not expect us to give this money to the men who have
been killing the Armenians and outraging their women."

But Enver returned to his main point.

" The}^ must never know," he said, " that they have a friend
in the United States. That would absolutely ruin them ! It is
far better that they starve, and in saying tliis I am really thinking
of the welfare of the Armenians themselves. If they can only be
convinced that they have no friends in other countries, then they
will settle down, recognise that Turkey is their only refuge, and
become qtiiet citizens. Your country is doing them no kindness
by constantly showing your sympathy. You are merely drawing
upon them greater hardships."

In other words, the more money which the Americans sent
to feed the Armenians, the mure Armenians Turkey intended to
massacre ! Enver's logic was fairly maddening ; yet he did
relent at the end and permit me to help the sufferers through
certain missionaries. l:i all our discussions he made this hypo-

Enver Pasha Discusses she Armenians 231

critical plea that he was reaUy a friend of this distracted nation,
and that even the severity of the measures which he had adopted
was merry in disguise. Since Enver ahvays asserted that he
wished to treat the Amienians with ir.stict — in this Iiis attitude
to m.e was quite differt-nt from that of Talaat, who openly
acknowledged his determination to deport them— I went to the
pains ot preparing an elaborate plan fur bettering their condition.
i suggested that if he wished to be just he should protect the
innocent refugees and lessen the suffering as much as possible,
and that for that purpose he should appoint a special Com-
mittee ot Armeriians to assist him, and send a capable Armenian,
such as Oskan Effendi, formerly Minister of Posts and Telegraphs,'
to study conditions and submit suggestions for remedying the
existing evils. Enver did not approve either of my proposals ;
as to the first, he said that his colleagues v\ould misunderstand
it, and, els to Oskan, he said that he admired him for his good
work while he had been in the Cabinet and had backed him in his
severity toward the inef&cient officials, yet he could not trust
him because he v/as a member of the Armenian Dashuaguist
Society.

In another talk with Enver I began by suggesting that the
Central Government was probably not to blame tor the massacres.
I thought that this would not be displeasing to him.

" Of course, I know that the Cabinet would never order such
terrible things as have taken place," I said. " You and Talaat
and the rest of the Conmiittee can hardly be held responsible.
Undoubtedly your subordinates have gone much further than
you have ever intended. I realise that it is not always easy to
control your underhngs."

Enver straightened up at once. I saw that my remarks, far
from smoothing the way to a quiet and friendly discussion, had
greatly offended hJm. 1 had intimated that things could happen
in Tiukey for which he and his associates were not responsible.

"You are greatly mistaken," he said, "we have this country
absolutely under our control. I have no desire to shift the blame
on our underlings and I am entirely willing to accept the
responsibility myself for ever^'thing that has taken place. The
Cabinet itself hsis ordered the deportations. I am con\inced that
we are completely justified in doing this owing to the hostile
attitude of the Aimenians toward the Ottoman Government, but
We are the real rulers of Turkey and no underhng would dare
proceed in a matter of this kind without our orders."

Enver tried to mitigate the barbarity of his general atiitude
by showing mercy in particular instances. 1 made no progress in

232 Secrets of the Bosphorus

my efforts to stop the programme of wholesale massacre, but I
did save a few Armenians from death. One day I received word
from the American Consul at Smyrna that seven Armenians had
been sentenced to be hanged. These men had been ficcused of
committing some rather vague political offence in 1909, yet
neither Rahmi Bey, the Governor-General of Smyrna, nor the
Military Commander believed that they were guilty. When the
order for execution reached Smyrna these authorities wired
Constantinople that under the Ottoman law the accused had the
right to appeal for clemency to the Sultan. The answer Vv'hich
was returned to this communication well illustrated the extent
to which the lights of the Armenians were regarded at that time :

" Technically you are right ; hang them first and send the
petition for pardon afterward."

I visited Enver in the interest of these men on Bairam, which
is the greatest Mohammedan religious festival ; it is the day that
succeeds Ramazan, their month of fasting. Bairam has one
feature in common with Christmas, for on that day it is customary
for Mohammedans to exchange small presents, usually sweets.
So after the usual remarks of felicitation, I said to Enver :

" To-day is Bairam and you haven't given me any present

yet."

Enver laughed.

" What do you want ? Shall I send you a box of candies ? "

" Oh no," I answered, " I am not so cheap as that. I want
the pardon of the seven Armenians whom the court-martial has
condemned at Smyrna."

The proposition apparently struck Enver as very amusing.

" That's a funny way of asking for a pardon," he said.
" However, since you put it that way, I can't refuse."

He immediately sent for fiis aide and telegraphed to Smyrna,
setting the men free.

Thus fortuitously is justice administered and decision involv-
ing human lives made in Turkey ! Nothing could make clearer
the sHght estimation in which the Turks hold life, and the slight
extent to which principle controls their conduct. Enver spared
these men not because he had the slightest interest in their cases,
but simply as a personal favour to me and largely because of the
wliimsical manner in which I had asked it ! In all my talks on
the Armenians the Minister of War treated the whole matter more
or less casually ; he could discuss the fate of a race hi a parenthesis
and referto the massacre of children as nonchalantly as we would
speak of the weather.

One day Enver asked me to ride with him in the Belgrade

Enver Pasha Discusses the Armenians 233

forest. As I was losing no opportunities to influence bim, I
accepted this invitation. We motored to Euyukdere, where four
attendants with horses met us. In our ride through the beautiful
forest Enver became rather more comniunicati\'e in his con-
versation than ever before. He spoke affectionately of his father
and mother. When they were married, he said, his father had been
si.xteen and his mother only eleven, and he himself had been born
when his niother was fifteen. In talking of his wife, the Imperial
Princess, he disclosed a much softer side to his nature than I had
hitherto seen. He spoke oi the dignity with which she graced
his home, regretted that Mohammedan ideas of propriety pro-
hibited her from entering social hfe, but expressed a wish that she
and Mrs. Morgcnthau could meet. He was then furnishing a
beautiful new palace on the Bosphorus ; when thiis was finished,
he said, the Princess would invite my wife to breakfast. Just
then we were passing the house and grounds of Senator Abraham
Pasha, a very rich Armenian. This man had been an intimate
friend of the Sultan Abdul Aziz, and, since in Turkey a man
inherits his father's friends as well as his property, the Crown
Prince of Turkey, a son of Abdul Aziz, made weekly visits to this
distinguished Senator. As we passed through the park, Enver
noticed v/ith disgust that wooiimen were cutting down trees, and
stopped them. When I heard afterward that the Minister of
War had bought this park I understood one of the reasons for
his anger. Since Abraham Pasha was an Armenian, this gave
me an opportunity to open the subject again.

I spoke to hini of the terrible treatment from which the
Armenian women were suffering.

" You said that you wanted to protect women and children,"
I remarked, " but I know that your orders are not being cariied
out."

" Those stories can't be true," he said, " I cannot conceive
that a Turkish soldiei would ill-treat a woman with child."

Perhaps, if Enver could have read the circumstantial reports
which were then lying in the archives of the Anicrican Embassy,
he might have changed his mind.

Shifting the conversation once more, he asked me about my
saddle, which was the well-know]-; " General McClellan " type.
Enver tried ii, and liked it so much that he after wards Ijorrowed
it, had one made for his own use — even including the number in
one corner---and he adopted it for one of his regiments. He told
me of tht railroads which ht- was then building in Palestine, said
how well the Cabinet was working, and pointed out that there
Were great opportunities in Turkey now for real estate specula.

234 Secrets of the Bosphorus

tion. He even suggested that lie and I join hands in buying land
that was sure to rise in value ! But 1 insisted in talking about
the Armenians. However, I made no more progress than before.

" We shall not permit them to cluster in places where they
can plot rnisciuef and help our enemies. So we are going to give
them new quarters."

This ride was so successful from. Enver's point of view that
we took another a few days afterward, and this time Talaat and
Dr. Gates, the President of Robert College, accompanied us.
Enver and I rode ahead, while our companiv^ns brought up the
rear. These Turkish officials are e.\xeedingly jealous of their
prerogatives, and, since the Minister of War is the ranking
member of the Cabinet, Enver insisted on keeping a decorous
interval between ourselves and the other pair of horsemen ! I
was somewhat amused by this, for I knew that Talaat was the
more powerful politician ; yet he accepted the discrimination,
and only once did he permit his horse to pass Enver and myself. '
At this violation of the proprieties, Enver showed his displeasure,
whereat Talaat paused, reined up his horse, and passed sub- '
missively to the rear.

" I was merely showing Dr. Gates the gait of my horse," he
said, with an apologetic air.

But I was interested in more important matters than such
fine distinction in official etiquette ; I was determined to talk
about the Armenians. But again I failed to make any progress,
Enver found more interesting discussions.

He began to talk of liis horses, and now another incident
illustrated the mercurial quaUty of the Turkish mind — the
readiness with which a Turk passes from acts of monstrous "
criminahty to acts of individual kindness. Enver said that the
horse-races would take place soon and regretted that he had no
jockey. I

"I'll give you an EngUsh jockey," I said. " Will you make a "
bargain ? He is a prisoner of war ; if he wins will you give him
his freedom ? "

"I'll do it," said Enver.

Tills man, whose name was Fields, actually entered the races
as Enver's jockey, and came in third. He rode for liis freedom,
as Mr. Philip said ! Since he did not come in first, the Minister
was not obliged, by the terms of his agreement, to let him return
to England, but Enver stretched a point and gave him his
libeity.

On this same ride Enver gave me an exhibition of his skill
as a marksman.

Enver Pasha Discusses the Armenians 235

At one point in the road 1 buddenly heard a pistol-shot ring
out in the air. It was Enver 's aide practising on a near-by
object. Suddenly Enver reined up his horse, whipped out his
revolver, and, thrusting his aim out rigidly and horizontally, he
took aim.

" Do you see that twig on that tree ? " he asked me. It was
about thirty feet away.

When I nodded, Enver fired — and the twig dropped to the
ground.

The rapidity with which Enver could whip his v/eapon out of
his pocket, ahn, and shoot gave me one convincing explanation
for the influence which he exercised with the piratical crew that
was then ruling Turkey. There were plenty of stones floating
arouiid that Enver did not hesitate to use this method of suasion
■at certain critical moments of his career ; how true they were I
do not know, but I can certainly testify concerning the high
icharacter of his marksmansliip.

I Talaat also began to amuse hnnseli in the same way, and finally

ithe two statesmen dismounted, began shooting in competition

Olid behaving as gaily and as care-free as boys let out of school.

!, " Have }'ou one of your cards with you ? " asked Enver. He

irequested that I pin it to a tree which stood about fifty feet av/a^^

Enver then fired first. His hand was steady ; his eye went

iitraight to the mark, and the bullet hit the card directly in the

::entre. Tlus success rather nettled Talaat. He took aim, but

;iis rough hand and wrist shook slightly- -he vvas not an athlete

Uke his younger, wiry, and straiglit-backed associate. Several

dmes Talaat hit around the edges of the card, but he could not

duplicate Enver's skill.

" If it had been a man I was firing at," said the bulky Turk,

umping on his horse again, " I would have hit him several times."

So ended my attempts to interest tlie two most powerful

Tuiks of their dav in the destruction of one of the most valuable

■lements in their Empire !

I have already said that Said Halim, the Grand Vizier, was

lot an inHuential personage. Nominally his office was the niost

. .niportant in the Empire ; actually the Grand Vizier was a mere

L )lace-warmer, and Talaat and Enver controlled the present

)incunil)ent precisely as they controlled the Sultan himself.

rechriiealiy, the Ambassadors should have conducted their

legotiatioiis with Said Halim, for he was I\Iinistcr for Eoreign

^flairs. I early discovered, however, that nothing could be

.cconiphshefl tliis way, and, though I still made my Monday calls

.s a matter of courtesy, I preferred to deal directly with the men

236 Secrets of the Bosphorus

who had the real power to decide all matters. In order that
might not be accused of neglecting any means of influencing th
Ottoman Government, I brought the Armenian question several
times to the Grand Vizier's attention. As he was not a Turk, bu
an Egyptian, and a man of education and breeding, it seemed no,
unlikely that he might have a somewhat different attitude towar
the subject peoples. But I was wrong. The Grand Vizier wa'
just as hcstile to the Armenians as Talaat and Enver. I soo
found that merely mentioning the subject irritated him greatlj
Evidently he did not care to have bis elegant ease interfered wit
by such disagreeable and unimportant subjects. The Gran
Vizier showed his attitude when the Greek Charge d 'Affaire
spoke to him about the persecutions of the Greeks. Said Halir
said that such manifestations did the Greeks mere harm tlia
good.

" We shall do with them just the opposite from \\hat we ai^
asked to do," said the Grand Vizier.

To my appeals the nominal chief Minister was hardly moi
statesmanlike. I had the disagreeable task of sending him, d
behalf of the British, French, and Russian Governments,
notification that these Powers would hold personally responsib
for the Armenian atrocities the men who were then directi:
Ottoman affairs. This meant, of course, that in the event
Allied success, they would treat the Grand Vizier, Talaat, Envei
Djemal, and their companions as ordinary murderers. As I cam
into the room to discuss this somewhat embariassing message t
tins member of the royal house of Egypt, he sat there, as usual
nervously fingering his beads, and not in a particularly geni?
frame of mind. He at once spoke of this telegram, his fa(^
flushed with anger, and he began a long diatribe against tt
whole Armenian race. He declared that the Armenian " relDels'
killed 120,000 Turks at Van. This and other of his statement
were so absurd that I found myself spiritedly defending tH.
persecuted race, and this aroused the Grand Vizier's wrath sfil
further, and, switching from the AiTnenians, he began to abusv
my own country, making the usual cliarges that our sympathy;
with the Armenians was largely responsible for all their trouble;t

Soon after this interview SaVd Hahm ceased to be Minister f<^
Foreign Affairs. His successor \\as HaHl Bey, who for som"
years had been Speaker of the Turkisli Parliament. Halil wa
a very different tj-pe of m.an. He was much more tactful, nmc
more intelligent, and much more influential in Turkish affaire
Fie was also a smooth and oil^^ conversationalist, good-nature
and fat, and by no means so lo^t to all decent sentiments as mos

Enver Pasha Discusses the Armenians 237

\irkish politicians of the time. It was generally reported that

) lalil did not approve the Armenian proceedings, yet his oflficial

1 Position compelled him to accept them, and even, as I now

lisccvered, to defend them. Soon after obtaining his Cabinet

)05t, Halil called upon me and made a somewhat ra.mbHng

xplanation of the Armenian atrocities. I had already had

•xperiences with several of^cial attitudes toward the persecu-

ions ; Talaat had been bloodthirsty and ferocious, Enver subtly

:alculating, while the Grand Vizier had been testy. Halil now

j-egarded the elimination of this race with the utmost good

lumour. Not a single aspect of the proceeding, not even the

.jnkindest things I could say concerning it, disturbed his equan-

mity in 4:he least. He began by admitting that nothing could

|3aUiate these massacres, but, he added, in order to understand

them, there were certain facts that I should keep in mind.

" I agree that the Government has made serious mistakes in
:he treatment of the Armenians," said Hahl, " but the harm has
already been done. What can we do about it now ? Still, if
,:here are any errors we can correct, we should correct them. I
deplore as much as you the excesses and violations which have
been committed. I wish to present to you the view of the
publime Porte. I admit that this is no justification, but I think
(there are extenuating circumstances that you should take into
consideration before judgment is passed upon the Ottoman
jGovernment."

And then, like all the others, he went back to the happenings
at Van, the desire of the Armenians for independence, and the
help which they had given the Russians. I had heard it all many
rtimes before.

; , " I told Vartkes " (an Armenian deputy who, Uke many other

I Armenian leaders, was afterwards murdered) " that, if his people

.jffeally aspired to an independent existence, they should wait for

ua propitious moment. Perhaps the Russians might defeat the

Turkish troops and occupy all the Armenian provinces. Then I

icould understand that the Armenians might want to set up for

jjthemselves. Why not wait, I told Vartkes, until such a fortunate

'time had arrived ? I warned him that we would not let the

Armenians jump on our backs, and that, if they did engage in

ostile acts against our troops, we would dispose of all Armenians

IK

who were in the rear of our army, and that our method would be

to send them to a safe distance in the south. Enver, as you

I know, gave a similar warning to the Armenian Patriarch. But,

in spite of these friendly warnings, they started a revolution."

I asked about methods of relief, and told him that already

238 Secrets of the Bosphorus

twenty thousand pounds ($100,000) had reached me fron
America.

" It is the business of the Ottoman Government," he blandl'
answered, " to see that these people are settled, housed and fe-.
until they can support themselves. The Government wil
naturally do its duty ! Besides, the twenty thousand pound
that you have is in reality nothing at all."

" That is true," I ansv,'ered, " it is only a beginning, but I an
sure that I can get all the money we need." :

" It is the opinion of Enver Pasha," he replied, " that n(
foreigners should help the Armenians. I do not say that h\\
reasons are right or wrong. I merely give them to you as the;^
ate. Enver says that the Armenians are idealists, and that the
moment foreigners approach and help them they will be en
couraged in their national aspirations. He is utterly determinec
to cut for ever all relations between the Armenians and foreigners.'!

" Is this Enver's way of stopping any further action on thei
part ? " I asked.

Halil smiled most good-natm-edly at^this somewhat pointsc
question, and answered :

"■' The Armicnians have no further means of action whatever !'

Since not far from 500,000 Armenians had been killed by thi^
time, Halil's genial retort certainly had one virtue which most 0.
his other statements in this interviev/ had lacked— it was the
truth.

" How many Armenians in the southern provinces are in need
of help ? " I asked.

" I do not know ; I would not give you even an apprcxim.ate
figure."

" Are there several hundred thousand ? "

" I should think so," Halil admitted, " but I cannot say ho\\
many hundred thousand.

■' A great many suffered," he added, ' simply because Envei
could not spare troops to defend them. Some regular troops did
accompany^ them and these behaved very well ; forty even lost
their lives defending the Armenians. But we had to withdraw
most of the gendarmes for service in the Army and put in a new
lot to accompany the Armenians. It is true that these gendarmes
committed many deplorable excesses."

" A great many Turks dc not approve these measures," I said.

" I do not deny it," replied the ever-accommodating Halil, as
he]bowed himself out.

''Enver, Halil, and the rest were ever insistent on the point
which they constantly raised, that no foreigners should furnish

I

relief to the Armenians. A few days after this visit the Under-
Secretary of State called at the American Embassy. He came
to deliver a message from Djemal to Enver. Djemal, who then
had jurisdiction over the Christians in Syria, was much annoyed
it the interest which the American Consiils were displaying in the
Armenians. He now asked me to order these officials " to step
busying themselves in Armenian affairs." Djemal could net
distinguish between the innocent and the guilty, this messenger
said, and so had to punish them all ! Some time afterward Halil
complained to me that tlie American Consu)s were sending facts
about the Armenians to America and that the Government
insisted that they should be stopped.

As a matter of fact, I was myself sending most of this in-
'formation, and 1 did not stop.

CHAPTER XXVII

" I SHALL DO NOTHING FOR THE ARMENIANS," SAYS THE GERMAN

AMBASSADOR

I SUPPOSE that there is no phase of the Armenian question wliich
has aroused more interest than this : Had the Germans any part
in it ? To what extent was the Kaiser responsible for the
wholesale slaughter of this nation ? Did the Germans favour it,
did they merely acquiesce, or did they oppose the persecutions ?
Germany, in the last four years, has become responsible for many
of the blackest pages in liistory ; is she responsible for this,
unquestionably the blackest of all ?

I presume most people will detect in the remarks of these
Turkish cliieftains certain resemblances to the German philosophy
of war. Let me repeat certain phrases used by Enver while j
discussing the Armenian massacres. " The Armenians have >
brought this fate upon themselves." " I expKcitly warned them
myself." " We were fighting for our national existence."
"We were justified in resorting to any means that would
accomplish these ends." " We have no time to separate the
innocent from the guilty. "-X' -'^t the present time Turkey has
only one duty ; that is to win the war. '

These phrases somehow have a familiar ring, have they not ?
Indeed, I might rewrite all these interviews with Enver, use the
Vv-ord Belgium in place of Armenia, put the words in a German
general's mouth instead of Enver's, and we should have almost
a complete exposition of the German attitude toward subject
peoples. But the teachings of the Prussians go deeper than this.
There was one feature about the Armenian proceedings that was
new, that was not Turkish at all. For centuries the Turks have
ill-treated their Armenians and all their other subject peoples
with inconceivable barbarity. Yet their methods have always
been crude, clumsy, and unscientific. They excelled in beating
out an Armenian's brains with a club, and this unpleasant
illustration is a perfect indication of the rough and primitive
methods which they applied to the Armenian problem. They
have understood the uses of murder, but not of murder as a fine
art. But the Armenian proceedings of 1915 and 1916 evidenced

I

" I shall do nothing for the Armenians ♦♦ 241

an entirely new mentality. This new conception was that of
deportation. The Turks, in 500 years, had invented innumer-
able ways of physicailj' torturing their Christian subjects,
yet never before had it occurred to their minds to move them
bodily from their homes, wliere they had lived for many thou-
sands of years, and send them hundreds of miles away into
the desert. Where did the Turks get this idea ? I have already
described how, in 1914, just before the European war, the
Government moved not far from 100,000 (?) Greeks from their
age-long homes along the Asiatic Uttoral to certain islands in the
;9igean. I ha\'e also said that Admiral Usedom, one of the big
Genuan naval experts in Turkey, told me that the Germans
had suggested this deportation to the Turks. But the all-
important point is that this idea of deporting peoples en masse
is, in modern times, exclusively Germanic. Anyone who reads .
the Uterature of Pan-Geimany constantly meets it. These
enthusiasts for a German world have deHberately planned, as
part of their programme, the ousting of the French from certain
parts of France, of Belgians from Belgium, of Poles from Poland,
of Slavs from Russia, and other indigenous peoples from the
territories which they have inhal.^ited for thousands of years,
and the establishment in the vacated lands of solid honest
Germans. But it is hardly necessary to show that the Germans
have advocated this as a state pohcy ; they have actually been
domg it in the last four years. They have moved we do not
knew how many thousands of Belgians and French from their
native land. Austria-Hungary has killed a large part of the
Serbian population and moved thousands of Serbian children
into her own territories, intending to bring them up as loyal
subjects of the Empire. To what degree this movement of
populations has taken place we shall not know until the end of
the war, but it has certainl^^ gone on extensively.

Certain German writers have even advocated the application
of this policy to the Armenians. According to the Paris Temps,
Paul Rolirbach, " in a conference held at Berlin some time ago,
recommended that Armenia should be evacuated by the Arme-
nians. They should be dispersed in the direction of Meso-
potamia, and their places should be taken by Turks in such a
fashion that Armenia should be freed of all Russian influence and
that Mesopotamia might be provided with farmers which it now
lacked." The purpose of all this was evident enough. Germany
was building the Bagdad railroad across the Mesopotamian
desert. This was an essential detail in the achievement of the
great new German Empire, extending from. Hamburg to the

K

24^ Secrets of the Bosphorus

Persian Gulf. But this railroad could never succeed unless J
there should develop a thrifty and industrious population to;
feed it. The lazy lurk would never become such a colonist.
But the Armenian was made of just the kind of stuff which thJs
enterprise needed. It was entirely in accordance with German
conceptions of statesmanship to seize these people in the lands
where they had hved for ages and transport them violently to
this dreary, hot desert. Tlie mere fact that they had always
lived in a temperate climate would furnish no impediment m
Pan-German eye^. I found that Germany had been sowing
these ideas broadcast for several years ; I even found that
German savants had been lecturing on tlis subject in the East.
" I remember attending a lecture by a well-known German
professor," an Armenian tells me. " His main point was that
, throughout their history the Turks had made a great mistake in
being too merciful toward the non-Turkish population. The
only way to ensure the proiipcrity of the Empire, according to
this speaker, v.as to act without any sentimentahty toward all
the subject nationalities auvd races in Turkey who did not fall in
with the plans of the Turks."

The Pan-Germanists are on record in the matter of Armenia. -
I shall content myself with quoting the words of the author of
" Mittel-Europa," Friedrich Naumann, perhaps the ablest
propagator of Pan-Gernian ideas. In his work on " Asia,"
Naumann, who started hfe as a Ciuistian clergyman, deals in
considerable detail with the Armenian massacres of 1895-96.
I need only quote a few passages to shov/ the attitude of German
state pohcy on such intamies. "If we should take into con-
sideration merely the violent massacre of from^ 80,000 to 100,000
Armenians," Vv-rites Naumann, "we can come to but one
opinion — we must absolutely condemn with ail anger and
vehemence both the assassins and their instigatcrs. They have
perpetrated the most abominable massacres upon masses of
people, n^ore numerous and worse than those iniiicted by Charle-
magne on the Saxons. The tortures which Lepsius has described
surpc^ss anything we have ever known. What, then, prohibits us
from falling upon the Turk, and saying to hirn : ' Get thee gone,
v.'retch ! ' Only one thing proliibits us, for the Turk answers :
' I, too, I fight lor my existence ! ' — and, indeed, we believe him.
We beheve, despite the indignation wliich the bloody Moham-
medan barbarism arouses in us, that the Turks are defending
themselves legitimately, and, before anytliing else, we see in the
Armenian question and Arrhenian massacres a matter of internal
Turkish policy, merely an episode of the agony through wliich a

" 1 snail ao noming lor me Armenians 243

^'reat empire is passing which does not propose lo let itself die

j without making a last attempt to save itself by bloodshed. All

I the great Powers, excepting Germany, have adopted a policy

wiiich aims to upset the actual state of aflairs in Turkey. In

ccordance with this, they demand for the subject peoples of

i urkey the rights of man, or ot humanity, or of civilisation, or of

Lpohtical liberty — in a word, sometliing that will niakt: thera the

(.equals of the lurks. But just as little as the ancieat Roman

despotic state could tolerate the Nazarene's religion, just as httle

can the Turkish Empire, which is really the political successor of

the Eastern Roman Empire, tolerate any representation of Western

free Christianity among its subjects. The danger for Turkey in

the Armenian question is one of extinction. Per tliis reason she

resorts to an act of a barbarous Asiatic state ; she has destroyed

the Armenians to such an extent that they will not be able to

'manifest themselves as a pohtical force for a considerable period.

A hoirible act, certainly, an act of political despair, shameful in

its details, but still a piece of pohtical history, in the Asiatic

manner. ... In spite of the displeasure wluch the German

Christian feels at these accomplished facts, he has nothing to do

.except quietly to heal, the wounds so far as he can, and then to

let matters tai;e their course. Tor a long time our policy in the

Orient has been determined : we belong to the group that

protects Turkey, that is the fact by v/hich we must regulate our

conduct. , . . We do not prohibit any zealous Christian from

caring for the .victims of these horrible crimes, from bringing up

the children and nursing the adults. May God bless these good

acts like all other acts of faith. Only we must take care that

acts of charity do not take the foim of pohtical acts which are

Ukely to thwart our German policy. The internationalist, he

who belongs to the English school of thought, may march with

the Armenians, ihe nationalist, he who does not intend to

sacrihce the future of Germany to England, must, on c^uestions

of external pohcy, follow tiie path marked out by Bismarck,

even if it is merciless in "its sentiments. . . . National policy :

j that is the profound moral reason why we must, as statesmen,

[Show ourselves indifferent to the sufferings of the Christian

peoples of Turkey, h^v.ever painful that may be to our human

leehngs. . . . That is our duty, which we must recognise and

confess before God and before man. If for this reason we now

I- maintain the existence of the Tuikish state, we do it in our own

: self-interest, because what we have in mind is our great future.

. . . On one side lie our duties as a nation, on tlie other our

duties as men. There are times when, in a conflict of duties, \\\-

244 Secrets of the Bosphorus !

can choose a middle ground. That is all right from a human!
standpoint, but rarely right in a moral sense. In this instance,
as in all analogous situations, we must clearly know on which
side lies the greatest and most important moral duty. Once
we have made such a choice we must not hesitate. William II.
has chosen. Ke has become the friend of the Sultan, because he
is thinking of a greater, independent Germany."

Such was the German state pliilosophy as appUed to the
Armenians, and I had the opportunity of observing German
practice as well. As soon as the early reports reached Con-
stantinople it occurred to me that the most feasible way of
stopping the outrages would be for the diplomatic representatives
of all countries to make a joint appeal to the Ottoman Govern-
ment. I approached Wangenheim on tliis subject in the latter
part of March. His antipathy to the Armenians became im-
mediately apparent. He began denouncing them in unmeasured
terms ; like Talaat and Eilver, he affected to regard the Van
episode as an unprovoked rebellion, and, in his eyes, as in theirs,
the Armenians were simply traitorous vermin.

" I will help the Zionists, " he said, thinking that this remark
would be personally pleasing to me, " but I shall do nothing
whatever for the Armenians."

Wangenheim affected to regard the Armenian question as a
matter that cliiefly affected the United States. My constant
intercession on their behalf apparently crcdted the impression;
in his Germanic mind, that any mercy shown this people would
be a concession to the American Government. And at that
moment he was not disposed to do anything that would please
the American people.

" The United States is apparently the only country that takes
much interest in the Armenians," he said. " Your missionarie?
are their friends and your people have constituted themselves
their guardians. The v.'hole question of helping them is therefore
an American matter. How then, can you expect me to do
anything as long as the United States is seUing ammunition to
the enemies of Germany ? Mr. Bryan has just published his
Note, sajdng that it would be unneutral not to sell munitions to
England and France. As long as your Government maintains
that attitude we can do nothing for the Armenians."

Probably no one except a German logician would ever have
detected any relation between our sale of war materials to the
Alhes and Turkey's attacks upon hundreds of thousands of
Armenian women and children. But that was about as much
progress as I made with Wangenheim at that time. I spoke to

«♦ I shall do nothing for the Armenians " 245

him frequently, but he invariably offset my pleas for mercy to
the AiTnenians by references to the use of American shells at the
Dardanelles. A coolness sprang up between us soon afterward,
the result of my refusal to give him " credit " for having stopped ^
the deportation of French and Genjian civilians to the Gallipoli """^
Peninsula. After our somewhat tart conversation over the
telephone, when he had asked me to telegraph Washington that
he had not " hetzed " the Turks in this matter, our visits to each
other ceased for several weeks.

There were certain influential Germans in Constantinople who
did not accept Wangenheim's point of view. I have already
referred to Paul Weitz, for thirty years the correspondent of the
Frankfurter Zeitung, who probably knew more about affairs in
the Near East than any other German. Although Wangenheim
constantly looked to Weitz for information, he did not always
take his advice. Weitz did not accept the orthodox imperial
attitude towards Armenia, for he beheved that Germany's refusal
effectively to intervene was doing his Fatherland everlasting
injury. Weitz was constantly presenting this view to Wangen-
heim, but he made little progress. Weitz told me about this
himself, in January, 1916, a few weeks before I left Turkey. I
quote his own words on this subject :

" I remember that you told me at the beginning," said
Weitz, " what a mistake Germany was making in the Armenian
matters. I agreed with you perfectly, but when I urged this
view upon Wangenheim he twice threw me out of the room ! "

Another German who was opposed to the atrocities was
Neurath, the Conseiller of the German Embassy. His indigna-
tion reached such a point that his language to Talaat and Enver
became almost undiplomatic. He told me, however, that ho
: had failed to influence them.

" They are immovable and are determined to pursue their
present course," Neurath said.

Of course, no Germans could make much impression on the
Turkish Government as long as the German Ambassador refused
to interfere, and, as time went on, it became more and more
evident that Wangenheim had.no desire to stop the deportations.
He apparently wished, however, to re-establish friendly r lations
with me, and soon sent third parties to ask Why I never came to
see him. It is doubtful whether we would have met again had
not a great personal affliction befallen him. In June Lieut. -Col.
Leipzig, the German Military Attache, died under the most
tragic and mysterious circumstances in the railroad station at
Lule Bourgas. He was killed by a revolver-shot. One story said

.K I

246 Secrets of the Bosphorus

that the weapon had been accidentally discharged, another that
the Colonel had committed suicide ; still another that the Turk^
had assassinated him, mistaking him for Liman von Sanders.
Leipzig was one of Wangenheim's intimate friends ; as young
men they had been officers in the same regiment, and at Con-
stantinople they were almost inseparable. I immediately called
on the Ambassador to express my condolences. I found him
very dejected and careworn. He told me that he had heart
trouble, that he was almost exhausted, and that he had apphed
for a few weeks' leave of absence. I knew that it was not only
his comrade's death that was preying upon Wangenheim's mind.
German missionaries were flooding Germany with reports about
the Armenians and calHng upon the German Government to stop
them. Yet, overburdened and nervous as Wangenheim was this]
day, he gave many signs that he was still the same unyielding
German miHtarist. A few days afterward, when he. returned my
visit, he asked :

" Where's Kitchener's Army ?

"We are willing to surrender Belgium now," he went on.
" Germany intends to build an enormous fleet of submarines
v.ith great cruising radius. In the next war we shall therefore
be able completely to blockade England, so we do not need
Belgium for its submarine bases. We shall give her back to the
Belgians, taking the Congo in exchange."

T then made another plea on behalf of the persecuted Chris-
tians. Again we discussed this subject at length.
^ " The Armenians," said Wangenheim, " have shov;n them-
selves in this war to be enemies of the Turks. It is quite apparent
that the two peoples can never live together in the same country.
The Americans should move some o^ them to the United States,
and we Germans will send some to Poland, and in their place send
Jewish Poles to the Armenian provinces — that is, if they will
promise to drop their Zionist schemics."

Again, although I spoke with unusual earnestness, the former
Ambassador refused to help the Armenians.

Still, on July 4th, Wangenheim did present a formal note of
protest. He did not talk to Talaat, or Ehver, the only men who
had any 'authority, but to the Grand Vizier, who was merely a
shadow. The incident has precisely the same character as his
" pro forma " protest against sending the French and British
civilians down to Gallipoh to serve as targets for the British
fleet. Its only purpose was to pat Germans officially on record.
Probably the hypocrisy of this protest was more apparent to me
than to others,, for, at the verj^ moment v/hen Wangenheirn

*« I shall do nothing for the Armenians " 247

presented this so-called protest, he was gi\nng me the reasons why
Germany could not take really effective steps to end the mas-
sacres ! Soon after this interview Wangenheim received his
leave and went to Germany.

Callous as Wangenheim showed himself to be, he was not
quite so implacable toward the Armenians as the German Naval
Attache at Constantinople, Hiimann. This person was generally
regarded as a man o^ great influence ; his position in Constanti-
nople corresponded to that of Boy-ed in the United, States. A
German diplomat once told me that Humann was more of a
Turk than Enver or Talaat. Despite this reputation, I attempted
to enlist his influence. T appealed to him particularly because
he was a friend of Enver, and was generally looked upon as an
important connecting link between the German Embassy and
the Turkish military authorities. Humann was a personal
emissary' of the Kaiser, in constant communication with Berlin,
and undoubtedly he reflected the attitude of the ruling powers
in Germany. He discussed the Armenian problem with the
utmost frankness and brutality.

" T have lived in Turkey the larger part of my life," he told
me, " and I know the Armenians. I also know that both
Armenians and Turks cannot live together in this country. One
of these races has got to go, and I don't blame the Turks for
what they are doing to the Armenians. T think that they are
entirely justif:ed. The weaker nation must succumb. The
Armenians desire to dismember Turkey ; they are against the
Turks and the Germans in this war, and they therefore have no
right to exist here ^ I also think that Wangenheim \venf
altogether too far in making a protest ; at least, I would not
have done this."

I expressed my horror at such sentiments, but Humann went
on abusing the Armenian people and absolving the Turks from
all blame.

"It js ^a mat ter of safety." he replied ; " the Turks have got
to protect themselves, and, from this point of view, they are
entirely justified in what they are doing. Why, we found 7,000
guns at Kadikeuy which belonged to the Armenians. At first
Enver wanted to treat the Armenians with the utmost moderation,
and four months ago he insisted that they be given anothet
opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty. But after what they
did at Van he had to yield to the Army, who had been insisting
all along that they should protect their rear. The Committee
decided upon the deportations and Enver reluctantly agreed.
All Armenians are working for the destruction of Turkey's power.

248 Secrets of the Bosphorus

and the only thing to do is to deport them. Enver is really a
very kind-hearted man ; he is incapable personally of hurting a
fly, but when it comes to defending an idea in which he
believes, he will do it fearlessly and recklessly. Moreover, the
Young Turks have to get rid of the Armenians merely as a
matter of ^elf-pr^ ter. tiQn . The Committee is strong only in
Constantinople and a few other large cities. Everywhere else
the people are strongly ' Old Turk,' and these Old Turks are
all fanatics. The Old Turks are not in favour of the present
Government, and so the Committee has to do everything in its
power to protect itself.' But don't think that any harm
will come to other Christians. Any Turk can easily pick out
three Armenians among a thousand Turks " !

Humann was not the only important German who expressed
this latter sentiment. Intimations began to reach me from many
sources that my " meddling " on behalf of the Armenians was
making me more and more unpopular in German officialdom.
One day in October, Neurath, the German Conseiller, called and
showed me a telegram which he had just received from the
German Foreign Office. This contained the information that
Lord Crewe and Lord Cromer had spoken on the Armenians in the
House of Lords, had laid the responsibility for the massacres
upon the Germans, and had declared that they had received their
information from an American witness. The telegram also
referred to an article in the Westminster Gazette, which said that
the German Consuls at certain places had instigated and even led
the attacks, and particularly mentioned Resler of Aleppo.
Neurath said that' his Government had directed him to obtain a
denial of these charges from the American Ambassador at
Constantinople. I refused to do this, saying that I did not feel
called upon to decide officially whether Turkey or Germany was
responsible for these crimes.

Yet everywhere in diplomatic circles there seemed to be a
conviction that the American Ambassador was responsible for
the wide publicity which the Armenian massacres were receiving
in Europe and the United States. I have no hesitation in saying
that they were right about this. In December my son, Henry
Morgenthau, Jr., paid a visit to the Gallipolt Peninsula, where
he was entertained by General Liman von Sanders and other
German officers. He had hardly stepped into German head-
quarters when a General came up to him and said :

" Those are very interesting articles on the Armenian question
which your father is writing in the American newspapers."

" My father has been writing no articles," my son replied.

" I shall do nothing for the Armenians " 249

" Oh," said this officer, " just because his name isn't signed
to them doesn't mean that he is not writing them."
Von Sanders also spoke on this subject. ^

" Your father is making a great mistake," he said, " giving
out the facts about what the Turks are doing to the Armenians.
That really is not his business."

As hints of this kind made no impression on me, the Germans
evidently decided to resort to threats. In the early autumn a
Dr. Nossig arrived in Constantinople from BerHn. Dr. Nossig
was a German Jew, and came to Turkey evidently to work
against the Zionists. After he had talked with me for a few
minutes describing his Jewish activities, I soon discovered that
he was a German political agent. He came to see me twice ;
the first time his talk was somewhat rambling, the purpose of the
call apparently being to make my acquaintance and insinuate
himself into my good graces. The second time, after discoursing
vaguely on several topics, he came directly to the point. He
drew Ms chair closely up to me and began to talk in the most
friendly and confidential manner.

" Mr. Ambassador," he said, " we are both Jews, and I want
to speak to you as one Jew to another. I hope you will not be
i offended if I presume upon this to give you a little advice. You
are very active in the interests of the Armenians, and I do not
think you realise how very unpopular you are becoming for this
reason with the authorities here. In fact, I think that I ought to
tell you that the Turkish Government is contemplating asking
I for your recall. Your protests will be useless. The Germans
will not interfere on behalf of the Armenians, and you are just
spoihng your opportunities of usefulness and running the risk
that your career will end ignominiously. "

" Are you giving me this advice," I asked, " because you have
a real interest in my personal welfare ? "

" Certainly," he answered, " all of us Jews are proud of what
you have done and would hate to see it end disastrously."

" Then you go back to the German Embassy," I said, " and
tell Wangenheim that I said, to go ahead and have me recalled. •
If I am to suffer martyrdom, I can think of no better cause in
which to be sacrificed. In fact, I would welcome it, for I can
I think Qi no greater honour than to be recalled because I, a Jew,
had been exerting all my powers to save the lives of hundreds
of thousands of Christians."

Dr. Nossig hurriedly left my office and I have never seen him
since. When I next met Envcr I told him that there were
rumours that the Ottoman Government was about to ask for my

250 Secrets of the Bosphorus

recall. He was very emphatic in denouncing the whole story
as a falsehood. " We would not be guilty of making such a
ridiculous mistake," he said. So there was not the slightest'
doubt^ that this attempt to intimidate me had been hatched at
the German Embassy. i:

Wangenheim returned to Constantinople in' early Octoberi
I was shocked at the change that had taken place in the man.
As I wrote in my diary, " he looked the perfect picture of Wotan."
His face was almost co;istantly twitching, he wore a black cover
over his right eve, and he seemed unusually nervous and de-
pressed. He told me that he had obtained little rest, but had
been obliged to spend most of his time in Berlin attending to
business. A few days after his return I met him on my way to
Haskeuy ; he said that he was going to the American Embassy,;
and together we walked there. I had been recently told by
Talaat that he intended to deport all the Armenians who were
left in Turkey, and this statement had induced me to make a!
final plea to the one man in Constantinople who had the power to
end the horrors. I took Wangenheim up to the second floor of
the Embassy, where we could be entireV alone and unin'"errup':ed,
and there, for more than an hour, sitting together over the tea-
table, we had our last conversation on this subject.

" Berlin telegraphs me," he said, " that your Secretary of
State tells them that you say that more Armenians than ever
have been massacred since Bulgaria has come in on our side."

" No, I did not say tha^" I replied. " I admit that I have
sent a large amount of information to Washington. T have sent
copies of every report and every statement to the State Depart-
ment. They are safety lodged there, and, whatever happen? to
me, the evidence is complete and the American people are not
dependent on my oral report for their inforination. But this
particular statement you make 's not quit'^ accurate. I merely
informed M^. Lansing that any influence Bulgaria might exert to
s+op the massa'^res has been lo^^t now that she has become
Turkey's ally."

"We again discussed the deportations.

■ " Germany is not responsible for this," Wangenheim said.

" You can assert that to the end o^ time," I replied, " but
nobody will believe it. The world will always hold Germany
responsible ; the guilt of these crimes will be your inheritance
for ever. I know that you have filed a paper protest. But what
does that amount to ? You know better than I do that such a
protest will have no effect. I do not claim that Germany is
responsible for these massacres in the sense that she instigated

" I shall do nothing for the Armenians '* 251

them ; but sh^ is responsible in the sense that she had power to
stop them and did not use it. And it is not only America and
vour present enemies that will hold you responsible. The
German people will themselves some dav call you to account.
You are a Christian people, and the time will come when Germans
will realise that you have let a Mohammedan people - destroy
another Christian nation. How foolish is your protest that I am
sending information to mv State Department ! Do you suppose
that you can keep things like these atrocities secret ? Don't get
such a foolish, ostrich-like thought as that — don't think that by
ignoring them yourselves you can get the re^t of the world to do
so. Crimes like these cry to heaven. Do you think I could
know about things like this and not report them to my Govern-
ment ? And don't forget that German missionaries, as well as
American, are sending me information about th^ Armenians."

" All that you sav may be true," replied the German Am-
bassador, " but the big oroblem that confronts us is to win this
war. Turkev has settled with her foreign enemies ; she has done
that at the DardaneFe^^ and at Gallipoli. She is now tr5dng to
settle her internal affairs. They still greatly fear that the
capitulations will be forced upon them again. If they should
again be put under th-'s restraint, they intend to have their
internal problems in such shape that there will be little chance of
anv interference from foreign na'^'ons. Talaa*" has told me that
he is determined to complete this task before peace is declared.
In the future they don't intend that the Russians shall be in a
position to say that they have a right to intervene about Arme-
nian matters because there are a ^arge number of Armenians
in Russia who are affected by the troubles of their co-rehgionists
in Turkey. Giers used to be doing this all the time, and the
Turks do not intend that any Ambassador from Russia, or from
any other country, shall have such an opportunity in the future.
The Armenians, anyway, are a very poor lot. You come in
contact in Constant nople with Armenians of the ' educated
classes, and you get your imp'-essions about them from these
men, but all the Armenians are not of that type. Ye^ T admit
lhat they have been treated terribly. I sent a man to make
investigations, and he reported that the worst outra'ies have not
been committed by Turkish officials bu*^ by brigands."

Wangenheim again suggested that the' Armenians be taken
to the United States, and once more I gave him the reasons why
this would be impossible.

" Never mind nil these con'-.iderations," I said. " Let us
disregard everything — mihtary necessity, State policy, and all

252 Secrets of the Bosphorus . ^

else — and let us look upon this simply as a human problem.
Remember that most of the people who are being treated in this
way are old men, old women, and helpless children. Why can't
you, as a human being, see that these people are permitted to
live ?

" At the present stage of internal affairs in Turkey," Wangen-
heim replied, " I shall not intervene."

I saw that it was useless to discuss the matter further. He
was a man who was devoid of sympathy and human pity, and I
turned from him in disgust. Wangenheim rose to leave. As he
did so he gave a gasp, and his legs suddenly shot from under him.
I jumped and caught him just as he was falling. For a minute
he seemed utterly dazed ; he looked at me in a bewildered way, |
then suddenly collected himself and regained his poise. I took
the Ambassador by the arm, piloted him downstairs and put him
into his auto. By this time he had apparently recovered from
his dizzy spell and he reached home safely. Two days afterward,
while sitting at his dinner-table, he had a stroke of apoplexy ; he
was carried upstairs to his bed, but never regained consciousness.
On October 24th I was officially informed that Wangenheim was
dead. And this, my last recollection of Wangenheim, is that of
the Ambassador as he sat in my office in the American Embass}',
absolutely refusing to exert any influence to prevent the massacre
of a nation. He was the one man who could have stopped
these crimes, and his Government the one Government, but, as
Wangenheim told me many times, " our one aim is to win this
war."

A few days afterward official Turkey and the diplomatic
force paid their last tribute to this finished embodiment of the
Prussian system. Wangenheim was buried in the Park of the
Summer Embassy at Therapia, by the side of his comrade Col.
Leipzig. No resting-place could have been more appro-
priate, for this had been the scene of his diplomatic successes,
and it was from here that, a httle more than two years before, he
had directed by wireless the Goeben and the Breslait, safely
brought them into Constantinople, made it inevitable that
Turkey should join forces with Germany, and paved the way for
all the triumphs and all the horrors that had necessarily followed
that event.

CHAPTER XXVIII

ENVEK AGAIN MOVES FOR PEACE — FAREWELL TO THE SULTAN

AND TO TURKEY

My failure to prevent the destruction of the Armenians had made
Turkey for me a place of horror, and I found intolerable my
further daily association with men who, however gracious and
accommodating. and good-natured they might have been to the
American Ambassador, were still reeking with the blood of nearly
a million human beings. Could I have done anything more,
either for Americans, enemy ahens, or the persecuted peoples of
the Empire, I would wilhngly have stayed. The position of
Americans and Europeans, however, had now become secure, and,
so far as the subject peoples were concerned, I had reached the
end of my resources. Moreover, an event was approaching in.
the United States which, I beheved, would inevitably have the
greatest influence upon the future of the world and of democracy
— the presidential campaign. I felt that there was nothing so
important in international politics as the re-election of President
Wilson. I could imagine no greater calamity for the United
States and the world than that the American nation should fail
to heartily endorse this great statesman. If I could substantially
assist in Mr. Wilson's re-election, I concluded that I was certainly
wasting valuable time in this remote part of the world.

I had another practical reason for returning home, and that
was to give the President and the State Department, by word of
mouth, such first-hand information as I possessed on the Euro-
pean situation. It was especially important to give them the
latest sidelights on the subject of peace. In the latter part of
1915 and the early part of 1916 this was the uppermost topic in
Constantinople. Enver Pasha was constantly asking me to
intercede with the President to end the war. Several times he
intimated that Turkey was war-weary and that its salvation
depended on getting an early peace. I have already described
the conditions that prevailed a few months after the outbreak of
the war, but by the end of 1915 they were infinitely worse.
When Turkey decided on th • deportation and massacre of her
subject peoples, especially the Armenians and Greeks, she had
signed her own economic death warrant. These were the people,

254 Secrets of the Bosphorus

as I have already said, who controlled her industries and her
finance and developed her agncultmv, and the material con-
sequences of this great national crime now began to be every-
where apparent. The larms were lying uncultivated and
thousands of peasants were daily dying oi starvation. As the
Armenians and Greeks were the largest taxpayers, their anmhila-
tion greatly reduced the State revenues, and the fact that prac-
tically all Turkish ports were .blockaded had shut oft customs
collections, fhe mere statement that Turkey was barely taking
in money enough to pay the interest on her aebt, to say nothing
of ordinary expenses and war expenses, gives a iair idea of her
advanced degree of bankruptcy, in these facts Turkey had
abundant reasons for desiring a speedy peace. Besides this,
Enver and the uhng party feared a revolution unless the war
quickly came to an end. As 1 wrote the Stax Department
about this time, " these men are willing to do almost anything to
retain their power."

Still, I did not take Enver 's importunities for peace any too
seriously.

" Are you speaking for yourself and your party in this
matter," 1 asked fiim, '" or do you really speaK for Germany also ?
1 cannot submit a proposition from you unless the Germans are
back of you. Have you consulted tnem about tliis ? "

" No," Enver replied, " but I know how they leel."

" That is not suhicient," i answered ; " you had better
communicate with them directly through the German Embassy.
I would not be wihing to submit a proposition that was not
endorsed by all the Teutonic Alhes."

Enver rephed that he did no . think it worth while to discuss '^
the matter with the German Ambassador. He said, however,
that he was just leaving for Orsova, a town on the Bulgarian and
Rumanian frontier, wliere lie was to have a conference with
Falkenhayn, at that time the German Chief-of-Stah. Falken-
hayn, said Enver, was the important man ; he would take up the
question oi peace with him.

" Why do you think that it is a good lime to discuss peace
now ? " 1 asked.

" Because in two weeks we shall have completely annihilated
Serbia. We think that wiU put the Ahies in a frame of mind to
discuss peace. My visit to Ealkenhayn is lo compleie arrange-
ments fur the invasion of Egypt. In a very few days we expect
Greece to join us. We are already preparing tons oi provisions
and iodder to send to Greece. And when we get Greece, of
course, Rumania will come in. When the Greeks and Rumanians

Farewell to the Sultan and to Turkey 255

I'lin us we shall have a million fresh troops. We shall get all
Liic guns and ammunition we need from Gemiany as soon as
liie direct railroad is opened. All these things make it an
excellent time for us to take up the matter of peace."

I asked the JMinister of War to talk the matier over with
Falkenhayn in liis proposed interview, and report to me when he
returned. In some way tliis conversation came to the ears of
the new German Ambassador, Graf von MettLrnicii, who im-
mediately called to discuss the subject. He apparently wished
to impress upon me two tilings : that Germany would never
surrender Alsace-Lorraine and that she would insist on the
return of all her colonies. I rephed that it was apparently useless
to aiscuss peace unless England first won some great mihtary
victory.

" That may be so," rephed the Graf, " but you can hardly
expect that Germany shall kt England win such a victoiy merely
to put her in a frame of mind to consider peace. But I think
that you are wrong. It is a mistake to say that Great Britain
ha.:y not already won great victories, i think that she hcis several
very substantial ones to iier credit. Juot consider what she has
doiij. She has estabhshed her unquestioned supremacy of the
seas and driven off aU German conmierce. She has not only not
lost a foot of her own territory, but she has gained enormous new
domains. She has annexed Cyprus and Egypt and has conquered
all the German colonies. She is in possession of a considerable
part of Mesopotamia. How absura to say that England has
gained nothing by the war ! "

On December ist Enver came to the American Embassy and
reported the results of his interview with Falkenhayn. The
German Chief -of -Stafi had said that Germany would very much
hke to discuss peace, but tiiat Gemiany could not state her terms
in advance, as such an action would oe generally interj^reted a.3 a
sign of weakness. But one thing could be depended on : the
Allies could obtain fa/ more favourable tenuj at that moment
than at any future time. Enver tola nic that the German.^
would bj Willing to surrender all the tv.rntury they had taken
from the Frencli and practically all of Belgium. But the one
thing on which they iiad definitely settled was the permanent
dismemberment of berbia. Not an acre of Macedoma would be
returned to Serbia, and even parts of old Serbia wotfid be re-
tained ; that is, Serbia would become a much smaUer country
than she had been before the Balkan Wars and, in fact, she would
practicafiy disappeai as an independent btate. Tue nnjaning of
ah tlus was uppareni, even then. Germany had won Ihc object

256 Secrets of the Bosphorus

for which she had really gone to war : a complete route from
BerUn to Constantinople and the East. Part, and a good part, of
the Pan-German " Mittel Europa " had thus become an accom-
pHshed mihtary fact. Apparently Germany was wilUng to give
up the overrun provinces of Northern France and Belgium,
provided that the Entente would consent to her retention of
these conquests. The proposal which Falkenhayn made then
did not materially differ from that which he put forward in the
latter part of I9i8(?). This Enver- Falkenhayn interview, as
reported to me, shows that it is no suddenly conceived German
plan, but that it has been Germany's scheme from the first.

In all this I saw no particular promise of an early peace . Yet
I thought that I should lay these facts before the President,
therefore appHed to Washington for a leave of absence, which
was granted.

I had my farewell interview with Enver and Talaat on
January 13th. Both men were in their most delightful mood
Evidently both were turning over in their minds, as was I, all
the momentous events that had taketi place in Turkey and in
the world since my first meeting with them two years before
Then Talaat and Enver were merely desperate adventurers who
had reached high position by assassination and intrigue. Their
position was insecure, for at any moment another revolution
might plunge them into the obscurity from which they had
sprung. But now they were the unquestioned despots of the
Ottoman Empire, the alUes of the then strongest military power
in the world, and the conquerors — at least, they so regarded)
themselves — of the British Navy. At this moment of their great
triumph — the AUied expedition to the Dardanelles had evacuated
their positions only two weeks before — both Talaat and Enver
regarded their country again as a world power.

" I hear you are going home to spend a lot of money and
re-elect your President," said Talaat — this being a jocular^
reference to the fact that I was the Chairman of the Finance '
Committee of the Democratic National Committee. " That's
very fooHsh ; why don't you stay here and give it to Turkey ?
We need it more than your people do. . *

" But we hope you are coming back soon," he added. " We
feel almost as though you were one of us. You and we have
really grown up together ; you came here about the same time
that we took office and we don't know how we could ever get so I
well acquainted with another man. We have grown fond of you, .j
too. We have had our differences, and pretty lively ones at;
times,but we have always found you fair, and we respect Americans

Farewell to the Sultan and to Turkey 257

policy in Turkey as you have represented it. We don't like to
see you go, even for a few months."

I expressed my pleasure at these words.

" It's very nice to hear you talk that way," I answered.
" Since you flatter me so much, I know that you will be wilHng
to promise me certain things. Since I have you both here
together, this is my chance to put you on record. Will you treat
the people in my charge considerately, just the same as though
I were here ? "

" As to the American missionaries and colleges and schools,"
said Talaat, and Enver assented, " we give you an absolute
promise. They will not be molested in the slightest degree, but
can go on doing their work just the same as before. Your mind
can rest easily on that score."

" How about the British and French ? " I asked.

" Oh, well," said Talaat, smiling, " we may have to have a
little fun with them now and then, but don't worry. We'll take
good care of them."

And now for the last time I spoke on the subject that had
rested so heavily on my mind for many months. I feared that
another appeal would be useless, but I decided to make it.

" How about the Armenians ? "

Talaat 's geniality disappeared in an instant. Hisj^face
hardened, and the fire of the beast lighted up his eyes once more.

" What's the use of speaking about them ? " he said, waving
his hand. " We are through with them. That's all over."

Such was my farewell with Talaat. " That's all over " were
his last words to me.

The next day I had my farewell audience with the Sultan.
He was the same gracious, kindly old gentleman that I had first
met two years before. He received me informally, in civilian
European clothes, and asked me to sit down with him. We
talked for twenty minutes, discussing, among other things, the
pleasant relations that prevailed between America and Turkey.
He thanked me for the interest which I had taken in his country
and hoped that I would soon return. Then he took up the
question of war and peace.

" Every monarch naturally desires peace," he said. " None
of us approve the shedding of blood. But there are times when
war seems unavoidable. We may wish to settle our disputes
amicably, but we cannot always do it. This seems to be one of
them. I told the British Ambassador that we did not wish to
go to war with his country. I tell you the same tiling now.
But Turkey had to defend her rights. Russia attacked us, and

s

258 Secrets of the Bosphorus

naturally we had to defend ourselves. Thus the war was not the
result of any planning on our part, it was an act of Allah — it was
fate."

I expressed the hope that it might soon be over.

" Yes, we wish peace also," replied His Majesty. " But it
must be a peace that will guarantee the rights of our Empire. I
am sure that a civiHsed and flourishing country hke America
wants peace, and she should exert all her efforts to bring about a
peace that shall be permanent."

One of the Sultan's statements in this interview left a lasting
impression. This was his assertion that " Russia attacked us."
That the simple-minded old gentleman believed this was ap-
parent ; it was also clear that he knew nothing of the real facts —
that Turkish warships, under German officers, had plunged
Turkey into the war by bombarding Russian seaports. Instead
of telhng him the truth, the Young Turk leaders had foisted upon
the Sultan this fiction of Russia as the aggressor. The interview
showed precisely to what extent the ostensible ruler of Turkey
was acquainted with the crucial facts in the government of his
own Empire.

In our interview Talaat and Enver had not said their final
farewells, teUing me that they would meet me at the station. A
few minutes before the train started Bedri came up, rather pale-
faced and excited, and brought me their apologies.

" They cannot come," he said, " the Crown Prince has just
committed suicide ! "

I knew the Crown Prince weU and I had expected to have him
as a fellow-passenger to Berlin ; he was about to make a trip to
Gennany, and his special car was attached to this train. I had
seen much of Youssouf Izzeddin ; he had several times invited
me to call upon him, and we had spent many hours talking over
the United States and American institutions, in which subject
he had always displayed the keenest interest. Many times had
he told me that he would Hke to introduce certain American
governmental ideas in Turkey. The morning when we were
leaving for BerHn the Crown Prince was found lying on the floor
in his villa, bathed in a pool of blood, with his arteries cut.
Youssouf was the son of Abdul-Aziz, Sultan from 1861 to 1876,
who, gruesomely enough, had ended his days by opening his
arteries forty years before. The circumstances surrounding the
death of father and son were thus precisely the same. The fact
that Youssouf was strongly pro-Ally, that he had opposed
Turkey's participation in the war on Germany's side, and that he
wai extremely antagonistic to the Committee of Union and

Farewell to the Sultan and to Turkey 259

Progress gave rise to many suspicions. I know nothing about
the stories that now went from mouth to mouth, and merely
1. cord that the official report on the death was that it was a case
ot " suicide."

" On I'a suicide " (they have suicided him !), remarked a witty
Frenchman, when this verdict was reported.

This tragic announcement naturally cast a gloom over our
party as our train pulled out of Constantinople, but the journey
proved to be full of interest. I was now on the famous Balkan-
zug, and this was only the second trip which it had made to
B rlin. My room was No. 13 ; several people came to look at
jit, telHng me that, on the outward trip, the train had been shot
at, and a window of my apartment broken !

Soon after we started I discovered that Admiral Usedom was
one of my fellow-passengers. Usedom had had a distinguished
career in the Navy ; among other things he had been captain of
the HohenzoUern, "the Kaiser's yacht, and thus was upon friendly
terms with His Majesty. The last time I had seen Usedom was
on my visit to the Dardanelles, where he had been Inspector-
General of the Ottoman defences. As soon as we met again the
Admiral began to talk about the abortive Allied attack. He
again made no secret of the fears which he had then entertained
that this attack would succeed.

" Several times," he said, " we thought that they were on the
verge of getting through. All of us down there were very much
distressed and depressed over the prospect. We owed much to
the heroism of the Turks and their willingness to sacrifice an
unlimited number of human Uves. It is all over now — that part
bf our task is finished."

The Admiral thought that the British landing-party had been
badly prepared, though he spoke admiringly of the skill with
which the Allies had managed their retreat. I also obtained
further Ught on the German attitude toward the Armenian
massacres. Usedom made no attempt to justify them ; neither
'did he blame the Turks. He discussed the whole thing calmly,
dispassionately, and merely as a military problem, and one would
never have guessed from his remarks that the Uves of a million
luman beings had been involved. He simply said that the
iArmenians were in the way, that they were an obstacle to
German success, and that it had therefore been necessary to
remove them, just Uke so much useless lumber. He spoke about
them as detachedly as one would speak about removing a row of
louses in order to bombard a city.

Poor Serbia ! As our train sped through her devastated

26o Secrets of the Bosphorus

valleys I had a picture of what the war had meant to this brave
little country. In the last two years this nation had stood alone,
practically unassisted by her allies, attempting to stem the rush
of Pan-German conquest, just as, for three centuries, she had|
stood as a bulwark against the onslaughts of the Turks. And '
she had paid the penalty. Practically every farm we passed was
abandoned, overgrown with weeds and full of debris, and the build-
ings were usually roofless and sometimes razed to the ground. When-
ever we crossed a stream we saw the remains of a dynamited
bridge ; in all cases the Germans had built new ones to replace
those which had been destroyed. We saw many women and
children, looking ragged and half -starved, but, significantly, we saw
very few men, for all had either been killed or they were in the
ranks of Serbia's still existing and vahant little army. All this
time trainloads of German soldiers were passing us or standing on
the switches at the stations where we slowed up, a sufficient
explanation for all the misery and devastation we saw on our
way.

CHAPTER XXIX

vox JAGOW, ZIMMERMAN, AND GERMAN-AMERICANS

Our train drew into the Berlin station on the morning of Feb-
ruary 3rd, 1916. The date is worth mentioning, for that marked
an important crisis in German-American relations. Almost the
first man I met was my old friend and colleague. Ambassador
James W. Gerard. Mr. Gerard told me that he was packing up,
and expected to leave- BerHn at any moment, for he believed that
a break between Germany and the United States was a matter
only of days, perhaps of hours. At that time Germany and the
United States were discussing the settlement of the Liisitania
outrage. The negotiations had reached a point where the
Imperial Government had expressed a wilHngness to express her
regrets, pay an indemnity, and promise not to do it again. But
the President and Mr. Lansing insisted that Germany should
declare that the sinking of the Liisitania had been an illegal act.
This meant that Germany at no time in the future could resume
submarine warfare without stultifying herself and doing some-
thing which her own Government had denounced as contrary to
international law. But our Government would accept nothing
less, and the two nations were therefore at loggerheads.

" I can do nothing more," said Mr. Gerard. " I want to have
you talk to Zimmerman and von Jagow, and perhaps you can
give them a new point of view."

I soon discovered from my many callers that the atmosphere
in Berlin was tense and exceedingly anti-American. Our
country was regarded everywhere as practically an ally of the
Entente, and I found that the most absurd ideas prevailed
concerning the closeness of our relations with England. Thus it
was generally believed that Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the British
Ambassador in Washington, met regularly with President
Wilson's Cabinet and was consulted on all our national policies.

At three o'clock Mr. Gerard took me to the Foreign Office and
we spent an hour there with von Jagow. von Jagow was a
small, slight man of nervous disposition. He lighted cigarette
after cigarette during our interview. He was apparently greatly
worried over the American situation. Let us not suppose that

262 Secrets of the Bosphorus

the German Government regarded lightly a break with the
United States. At that time their newspapers were ridiculing
and insulting us and making fun of the idea that Uncle Sam
would go to war. The contrast between these journalistic
vapourings and the anxiety, even the fear, which this high
German official displayed much impressed me. The prospect of
having our men and our resources thrown on the side of the
Entente he did not regard indifferently, whatever the Berlin
Press might say.

" It seems to us a shame that Mr. Lansing should insist that
we declare the Lusitania sinking illegal," von Jagow began.
" He is acting like a technical lawyer." "

" If you want the real truth," I replied, " I do not think that
the United States is particular or technical about the precise
terms that you use. But you must give definite assurances that
you are sorry for the act, say that you regard it as an improper
one, and that it will not occur again. Unless you do this, the
United States will not be satisfied."

" We cannot do that," he answered. " Public opinion in
Germany would not permit it. If we should make a declaration ,
such as you outline the present Cabinet would fall." \

" But I thought that you had public opinion here well under
control," I answered. " It may take a little time, but c?rtainly
you can change public sentiment so that it would approve such
a settlement."

" As far as the newspapers are concerned," said von Jagow, |
" that is true. We can absolutely control them. However, that
will take some time. The newspapers cannot reverse themselves
immediately ; they will have to do it gradually, taking two or j
three weeks. We can manage them. But there are members of
ParKament whom we can't control, and they would make so
much trouble that we would all have to resign."

" Yet it seems to me," I rejoined, " that you could get these
members together, explain to them the necessity of keeping the
United States out of the war, and that they would be convinced.
The trouble is that you Germans don't understand conditions in
my country. You don't think that the United States will fight.
You don't understand President Wilson ; you think that he is an
idealist and a peace man, and that under no circumstances will
he take up arms. You are making the greatest and most costly
mistake that any nation could make. The President has two
sides to his nature. Do not forget that he has Scotch Irish blood
in him. Up to the present you have seen only the Scotch side of
him. That makes him very cautious, makes him weigh every

(

Von Jagow, Zimmerman, and German- Americans 263

move, makes him patient and long-suffering. But he has also
all the fire and combativeness of the Irish. Let him once set his
jaws and it takes a crowbar to open them again. If he once
decides to fight, he will fight with all his soul, and to the bitter
end. You can go just so far with your provocations bui: no
farther. You are also greatly deceived because certain important
members of Congress, perhaps even a member of the Cabinet,
have been for peace. But there is one man who is going to settle
this matter — that is the President. He will settle it as he thinks
right and just, irrespective of what other people may say or do."

Von Jagow said that I had given him a new impression of the
President. But he still had one more reason to believe that the
United States would not go to war.

" How about the German-Americans ? " he asked.

" I can tell you all about them," I answered, " because I am
one of them myself. I was born in Germany and spent the first
nine years of my life here. I have always loved many things
German, such as its music and its literature. But my parents
left this country because they were dissatisfied and unhappy here.
The United States gave us a friendly reception and a home, and
made us prosperous and happy. There are many millions just
like us ; there is no business opportunity and ho social position
that is not open to us. I do not believe that there is a more
contented people in the world than the so-called German-
Americans. We have one loyalty and one love, and that is for
the United States. Take my children — they are German-
Americans of the second generation. Their sympathies all
through this war have been with England and her Allies. My son
is here with me ; he tells me that if the United States goes to war
he will enlist immediately. Do you suppose in case we should go
to war with Germany that they would side with you ? The
idea is simply laughable. And the overwhelming mass of
German- Americans feel precisely the same way."

" But I am told," said von Jagow, " that there will be an
insurrection of German-Americans if your country makes war
on us."

" Dismiss any such idea from your mind," I replied. " The
first one who attempts it will be punished so promptly and so
drastically that such a movement will not go far. And I think
that the loyal German-Americans themselves will be the first to
administer such punishment."

" We wish to avoid a rupture with the United States," said
von Jagow, " but we must have time to change public senti-
ment here. There are two parties here, holding diametrically

264 Secrets of the Bosphorus

opposed views on submarine warfare. One believes in pushing it
to the limit, irrespective of consequences to the United States or
any other Power. The present Cabinet takes the contrary view ;
we wish to meet the contentions of your President, but the I
militaristic faction is pushing us hard. They will force us out of
office if we declare the Lusitania sinking illegal or improper. I
think that President Wilson should understand this. We are
working with him, but we must go cautiously. I should suppose
that Mr. Wilson, since he wishes to avoid a break, would prefer
to have us in power. Why should he take a stand that will drive
us out of office and put in here people who will make war inevit- -
able between Germany and the United States ? " %

" Do you wish Washington to understand," I asked, " that
your tenure of office depends on your not making this declara-
tion ? "

" We certainly do," replied von Jagow. " I wish that you
would telegraph Washington to that effect. Tell the President
that, if we are displaced now, we shall be succeeded by people
who advocate unlimited submarine warfare."

He expressed himself as amazed at my description of President
Wilson and his willingness to fight. " We regard him," said von
Jagow, " as absolutely a man of peace. Nor do we believe that
the American people will fight. They are far from the scene of
action, and what, after all, have they to fight for ? Your
material interests are not affected."

" But there is one thing that we will fight for," I replied, " and
that is moral principle. It is quite apparent that you do not
understand the American spirit. You do not realise that we are
holding off, not because we have no desire to fight, but because J
we wish to be absolutely fair. We first wish to have all the *
evidence in. I admit that we are reluctant to mix in foreign
disputes, but we shall insist upon our right to use the ocean as we
see fit, and we don't propose to have Germany tell us how many
ships we can sail and where they are to go. The American is still,
perhaps, a great powerful y^Duth, but, once he gets his mind made
up that he is going to defend his rights, he will do so irrespective
of consequences. You seem to think that Americans will not
fight for a principle ; you apparently have forgotten that all our
wars have been over matters of principle. Take the greatest of
them all — the Civil War, from 1861 to '65. We in the North
fought to emancipate the slaves ; that was purely a matter of
principle, our material interests were not involved. And we
fought that to the end, although we had to fight our own
brothers."

Von Jagow, Zimmerman, and German -Americans 265

" We don't want to be on bad terms with the United States,"
von Jagow replied. " There are tliree nations on whom the
peace of the world depends — England, the United States, and
Gennany. We three should get together, establish peace and
maintain it. I thank you for your explanation ; I understand
the situation much better now. But I still don't see why your
Government is so hard on Germany and so easy with England."

I made the usual explanation that we regarded our problem
with each nation as a distinct matter, and could not make our
treatment of Germany in any way conditional on our treatment
of England.

" Oh yes," replied von Jagow rather plaintively. " It
reminds me of two boys playing in a yard. One is to be punished
first and the other is waiting for his turn. Wilson is going to
spank the German boy first and, after he gets through, then he
proposes to take up England.

" However," he concluded, " I wish you would cable the
President that you have gone over the matter with me and now
understand the German point of view. Won't you please ask
him to do nothing until you have reached the other side and
explained the whole thing personally ? "

I made this promise and cabled immediately.

At three o'clock I had an engagement to take tea with a
director of the Orient Bank and his wife. I had been there only
a few minutes when Zimmerman was announced. He was a
different kind of man from von Jagow. He impressed me as being
much stronger, mentally and physically. He was tall, even
stately in his bearing, masterful in his manner, direct and
searching in his questions, but extremely pleasing and insinuating.

Zimmerman, discussing the German- Am.erican situation, began
with a statement which I presume he thought would be gratifying
to me. He told me how splendidly the Jews had behaved in
Germany during the war and how deeply under obhgations the
Germans felt to them.

" After the war," he said, " they are going to be much better
reated in Germany than they have been."

Zimmerman told me that von Jagow had told him about our
talk, and asked me to repeat part of it. He was particularly
interested, he said, in my statements about the German-
Americans, and he wished to learn from me himself the facts
upon which I based my conclusions. Like most Germans, he
regarded the Germanic elements in our population as almost a
part of Germany.

" Are you sure that the mass of German- Americans would be

266 Secrets of the Bosphorus

loyal to the United States in case of war ? " he asked. " Aren't
their feelings for the Fatherland really dominant ? "

" You evidently regard those German- Americans as a distinct-
part of the population," I replied, " living apart from the rest of
the people and having very little to do with American life as a
whole. You could not make a greater mistake. You can pur-
chase a few here and there who will make a big noise and shout
for Germany, but I am talking about the milHons of Americans of
German ancestry. These people regard themselves as Americans
and nothing else. The second generation particularly resent
being looked upon as Germans. It is practically impossible to
make them talk German ; they refuse to speak anything but
Enghsh. They do not read German newspapers and will not go
to Gernian schools. They even resent going to Lutheran churches
where the language is German. We have more than a milHon
German-Americans in New York City, but it has been a great
struggle to keep aHve one German theatre ; the reason is that
these people prefer the theatres where English is the language.
We have a few German clubs, but their membership is very small.
The German-Americans prefer to belong to the clubs of general
membership, and there is not a single one in New York, even the
finest, where they are not received upon their merits. In the j
pohtical and social Hfe of New York there are few German-
Americans who, as such, have acquired any prominent position, 4
though there are plenty of men of distinguished position who are '
German in origin. If the United States and Germany go to war,
you will not only be surprised at the loyalty of our German
people, but the whole world will be. Another point : if the
United States goes in, we shall fight to the end, and it will be a
very long and a very determined struggle."

After three years I have no reason to be ashamed of either of
these prophecies. I sometimes wonder what Zimmerman now
thinks of my statements.

After the explanation, Zimmerman began to talk about
Turkey. He was very interested in finding out whether the
Turks were lik.-ly to make a separate peace. I bluntly told him
that the Turks felt themselves to be under no obligations to the
Germans. This gave me another opportunity.

" I have learned a good deal about German methods in
Turkey," I said. " I think it would be a great mistake to
attempt similar tactics in the United States. I speak of this
because there has been a good deal of sabotage there already.
This in itself is sohdifying the German-Americans against you,
and is, more than anything else, driving the United States into the
arms of England."

Von Jagow, Zimmerman, and German-Americans 267

" But the German Government is not responsible," said
Zimmerman. " We know nothing about it."

Naturally I could not accept that statement on its face value
— recent developments have shown how mendacious it was — but
we passed to other topics. The matter of the submarine came
up again.

" We have voluntarily interned our Navy," said Zimmerman.
" We can do nothing at sea except with our submarines. It
seems to me that the United States is making a serious mistake
in so strongly opposing the submarine. You have a long coast-
line and you may need the U-boat yourself some day. Suppose
one of the European Powers, and particularly Japan, should
attack 5'-ou. You could use the submarine to good purpose then.
Besides, if you insist on this proposed declaration in the Lusitania
matter, you will simply force our Government into the hands of
the Tirpitz party."

Zimmennan now returned again to the situation in Turkey.
His questions showed that he was much displeased with the new
German Ambassador, Graf von Mettemich. Metternich, it
seemed, had not made a success of winning the goodwill of the
reigning powers in Turkey and had been a trial to the German
Foreign Ofhce. Metternich had shown a different attitude
toward the Armenians from Wangenheim, and he had made
sincere attempts with Talaat and Enver to stop them. Zimmer-
man now told me that Metternich had made a great mistake in
doing this and had destroyed his influence at Constantinople.
Zimmerman made no effort to conceal his displeasu:* over
Metternich's manifestation of a humanitaiian spirit. I nowsaw
that Wangenheim had really represented the attitude of official
Berlin, and I thus had conliiTnation, from the highest German
authority, of my conviction that Germany had silently acquiesced
in those deportations.

In a few days we had taken the steamer at Copenhagen, and
on February 22nd I found myself once more sailing into New
York Harbour.

I

INDEX

INDEX

Abdul-Hamid, 6, 9, 186, 188
Adrianople, 9, 19, 173, 178
iEgean Coast, Greek population of,

30
iEgean Coast deportations, 31
Alsace-Lorraine, 59
American ammunition for Allies,

103
American and Turkish relations, 103
Angora deportations, 205
Angora, Typhus at, 170
Archangel, 70
Armenians, American assistance of,

227-239
Armenians, Destruction of, 211
Armenians, History of, 188
Armenians massacred, iii, 189,

198
Armenian politics, 186, 191
Armenian soldiers, 186, 198
Armenian State Church, 189
Arrogant Turks, 180
Assassination of Austrian Heir, 37
[Assassination of Nazim, 9

Bagdad, 182

Bagdad Railway, 59, 241

Balkans smouldering, 35

Balkanzug, The, 179, 259

Baltic, The, 70

Ilastinado, The, 201

iJedri Bey, 87, 97, 100, 123, 163, 167,

204
Berlin, February, 1916, 261
Bethlehem Steel Co., 103
Bethmann-Hollweg, 55
Billings, C. K., 9, 23

Black Sea, Control of, 51

" Blacksmith of Bashkale," 202

Bompard, 17, 82

Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7, 37, 57,

177
Bosphorus, The, 36, 53, 71
" Boss System " in Turkey, 12
Bouvet, The, 140, 147
Breslau.The, 45, 63, 140, 252
Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of, 117
British Records, Burning of, 83
Bronsart, 40, 96, 130
Brufere, Henry, 23
Bulgaria, 118, 147, 159, 173
Bulgaria up for auction, 176
Bulgaria joins Central Powers, 177
Burial permits, 184
Burlesque gun. A, 144
Bustany Effendi, 23, 78

Cabinet Council, A Turkish, 160
Calais, 60
Caliph, The, 10
Capitulations, The, 73, 183
Capitulations, Abrogation of, 74
Churchill, Winston, 124, 135
Commander Stoker, 170
Committee of Union and Progress,

8, 10, 18, 82, 113, 130, 188, 204,

231
Constantinople, Control of, i
Constantinople, Coup d'Etat, 8
Constantinople, Decorations to

order, 146
Constantinople, Eve of war in, 39
Constantinople, Exodus from, 131
Constantinople, Germans in, 66

272

Index

Constantinople, Panic in, 123, 129
Constantinople, Peace negotiations

(1915), 116
Constantinople, Street signs in, 187
Concentration Camp, A, 158
Corcovado, The, 40, 45, 48, 58
Crisis, The German-American, 261
Cromer Commission, The, 128
Crown Prince Youssouf, 258

Dardanelles, The, 3, 47, 51, 60, 67
Dardanelles, Closing of the, 70
Dardanelles closed by Germans, 68
Dardanelles defences inspected,

133
Dardanelles, Fortifications of the,

137. 152
Dardanelles, First bombardment

of, 94

Dardanelles, Further bombard-
ments of, 121, 124, 130

Dardanelles, Land attack on, 155,

158
Dardanelles, Mines in the, 143
Dardanelles, Withdrawal from the,

179
Dedeagatch Railway, 173, 177
Deportations of Armenians, 202
Deportations of Greeks, 31
Deportations from Angora, 205
Deportations from Harpoot, 209
Deportations as a policy, 241
Der Tag, 139

Diplomatic conversation, A, 157
Djavid Bey, 52, 68, 78, 94, 138,

141, 144
Djemal Pasha, 7, 9, 33. 64, 81

Djemal Pasha's personality, 112-3,
187, 239

Djevdet Bey, 195, 202

Dolci, Monsignor, 171

£15, 170

Eau-de-Cologne, 136

England's Declaration of War, 58

Enver Pasha, 7, 64, 68, 85, 113, 129,

133. i53> 165, 171. 187
Enver Pasha at home, 74
Enver Pasha's German sympathies,

20
Enver Pasha's wedding, 25
Enver Pasha raises an army, 42
Enver Pasha's personality, 19
Enver Pasha's visit to Robert

College, 76
Enver Pasha and Armenian Mas-'

sacres, 226
Enver Pasha's marksmanship, 235

Failure of " Holy War," no

Falkenhayn interview, 254

Farewell to Talaat and Enver, 256

Farewell to the Sultan, 257

Fisher, Admiral , 121

Fitzgerald, Lt., 170

Foreigners, Deportations of, 160
Foreigners leave Turkey, 87, 95
Foreigners, Treatment of, 97, 155
Fourth of July, 1914. 3^
Fourth Turkish Army, 112
Franco-Russian Alliance, 3
Fuad Pasha, 133, 136

Gallipoh, 145, 153
Garroni, Marquis, 56
General, The, 67, 81
Gerard, James W., 261
German Caste organisation, 3
German Imperial Conference, 54
German Incentive to murder, 109
German Military Mission, 21, 26
German propaganda, 65, 71, 104
German responsibility for war, 55
German scheme to rouse Islam,

105
German Wireless Station in Turkey,

40

!

Germans disillusioned, 70
Germany and Armenian Massacres?
240

Index

273

Germany and International Law,

47
Germany's first Peace Terms, 119

Germany precipitating the War, 54

59
CTerman-Americans, 263, 265
Giers, M. de, 17, 27, 82
Gloucester, H.M.S., 44, 48
Goeben, The, 45, 63, 140, 149. 252
Goltz, von der, 41, 121, 150
Grand Vizier, The, 28, 51, 64, 68,

79, 81, 94, 159, 235
Greek deportations, 31, 212
Greek Islands, 30, 49
Greek purchase of Dreadnoughts,

35
Greeks, Treatment of, 32, 213

Grey, Sir Edward, 165

" Hadji Wilhelm," 65

Halil Bey, 236

Hamidie, Fort, 140, 148

Hoffman, Philip, 164

" Holy War," The, 105, iii, 146

Hostages on Gallipoli, 165

Humann, 18, 40, 43

Humann and the Armenians, 247

Ikdam, The, 104-6
Isolation of Turkey, 147, 180

Jagow, von, 261
January. 1915, 118
January, 1916, 179
Jihad, The, 105, no
Junkers, The, 3, 119

Kaiser, The, 192
Kiamil Pasha, 9
Kilid-ul-Bahr, 146, 148
Kitchener, Lord, 29
Koloucheff, 159. 175

Konia, 170

Kiihlmann, von, 117, 120

Kum Kale, 139, 144

Landing on Gallipoli, The, 155
Leipzig, Lt.-Col., Death of, 245
Lepsius, Dr., 226
Levant Her aid, The, 169
Levantines, 153
Lichnowsky, Prince, 117
Liman von Sanders, 26, 28, 40, 130
Limpus, Admiral, 26, 66
London, Treaty of, 30
Lusitania, The, 261

Macedonia, 176

Mallet, Sir Louis. 17,29, 68, 79, 83

Mark Antony, 112

Marne. Battle of the, i 59

Massacre of Armenians, in, 180

Medilli, The, 48

M6re Elvira, 98

Mesopotamia. 182, 202

Messina, 47

Memdie, The, 138

Metternich, Count, 255, 267

Mexico, 17

Millets. 184

Mirzi, Dr., 169 . ,

Mobilisations, 39

Mohammed V., 7

Mohammed V.'s personality, 10

Mosque of Santa Sophia, 130, 183

Murder of a Nation. The, 198

Mutius. von, 28, 37, 117

Nagara Point, 137, 149
Napoleon, 19
Naval preparations, 33
Navy, Turkish, 66
Nazim Pasha. 9
New Turkey. 180
Nossig. Dr.. 249

274 Index

Odessa raided by Turks, 8i

Oppenheim, Baron, 65

Optical illusion, 141

Otranto, 48

Ottoman Empire, 3, 15, 147, 180,

188
Ottoman Turks, 182

Pallavicini, 37, 56, 70, 96, 119, 123,

159
Pallavicini's personality, 5-6

Pan-Germany, 2, 31, 241

Pan-Turkism, 114, 186

Peace Campaign, 115, 254

Pears, Sir Edwin, 167

Pola, 47 ^

Poland, 59

Policy, Turkish, 76

President Wilson, 117

Prince Lichnowsky, 117

Propaganda, German, 65, 71

Prussian Military System, 3

Prussian Teachings, 240

Queen Elizabeth, The, 139, 145, 149

Race psychology, 181

Rayah, 183

Red Sultan, The, 186, i88'

Religious hatred, 106

Reprisals, 170

Requiem Mass, 37

Requisitions in Turkey, 41

Retreat from Mons, 60

" Revolution " at Van, 193

Robert College, 38, 73, 76

Rumania, 118

Rumania, Neutrality of, 148

Russia, 4

Russia, Isolation of, 70, 134

Russia, Strangling of, 125

Said Halim, 15, 28, 51, 64, 81, 235
St. Bartholomew's Eve, 211

Sanders, Liman von, 26, 28, 40,

130, 248
Santa Sophia, 130, 183
" Saviour of Egypt," 112
Scrap of Paper, A, 58
Secret Pamphlet, The, 106
Sedd-ul-Bahr, 144, 152
Serajevo, 37, 55, 57
Serbia, 37. 57, 148, 152. I77. 188,

260
Sheik-ul-Islam, The, 106
Siberian Railway, The, 71
Sicilian Vespers, The, 211
Simon, Robert E., 23
Smyrna, 30

Souchon, Admiral, 46, 67, 81
Stock Exchanges, 56
Stoker, Commander, 170
Sublime Porte, The, 9. 67. 127, 160
Submarine war. First warning of,

61 *

Submarine war, Unlimited, 264
Sultan Selim, 48

Tahsin Pasha, 193

Talaat Bey, 7, 8, 22, 50, 113, 128,
150, 167, 187, 203, 217

Talaat Bey and Armenian Mas-
sacres, 213

Talaat Bey at home, 91

Talaat Bey's first Cabinet, 15

Talaat Bey as Minister of War,

Talaat Bey's personality, 12

Talaat Bey's poUcy, 64-79

Taylor, Major John, 29

" Three Thousand Civilians,"

Tocheff, M., no

Treaty of Bucharest, 56

Tripoli, 7, 17

Troy, Plains of, 144

Turk, The, 181

Turk as torturer, 201

Turk, Attitude to Christians,

Turk, Pride of the, 181

20

153

.83

Index

275

Turkey on the eve of war, 80, 82
Turkey declares war, 85
Turkey, Isolation of, 147, 180
Turkey, Situation of (1915), 122,

128, 149
Turkish Army, 21, 28
Turkish Army review, 29
Turkish bankruptcy, 254
Turkish deportations, 159, 224
Turkish Dreadnoughts, 49
Turkish Empire, 3, 6, 32
Turkish Empire, Reforms in, 6
Turkish Expedition against Egypt,

114
Turkish Expedition against Egypt,

Failure of, 121
Turkish Expedition in Caucasus,

114
Turkish Expedition in Caucasus,

Failure of, 121
Turkish fears of Russia, 16
Turkish finances, 23
Turkish Government, Preparations

for flight of, 122
Turkish mobilisation, 39
. Turkish Navy, 50, 66
Turkish neutrality, 63
Turkish peace overtures {1916),

253
Turkish plots against Greece, 33
Turkish policy, 76
Turkish Press, 65, 104
Turkish requisitions, 41

Ultimatum of July, 1914, 37, 55
Usedom, Admiral, 259
Usher, Dr., 197

Van, 193 ,

Vladivostock, 70

" Vulnerability of British Fleet,"
135

Wangenheim, Baron von, 2, 27, 34
38, 45, 50, 53. 70, 151

Wangenheim's ambition, 5

Wangenheira*s confidence in vic-
tory, 59

Wangenheim and American am-
munition, 103

Wangenheim and Armenian Mas-
sacre, 245

Wangenheim, A last appeal to, 251

Wangenheim "between two fires,"
127

Wangenheim's peace overtures,
118

Wangenheim's personality, 3-4

Wangenheim's plot against British,
123

Wangenheim's principles, 115

Wangenheim's promise, 96

Wangenheim's vanity, 55

Wangenheim, death of, 252

War-weariness, 253

Weber Pasha, 69

Wehrle. Oberst, 138

Weitz, Paul, 18, 37, 177, 245

Welt-Pohtik, 117

Wertheim, Maurice, 44

White Slave Gang, 10 1 •

Wigram, Dr., 164

Wilson, President, 253

Wireless Station, A, 40

" World Empire or Downfall," 5

Young Turks, 6, 11. 17, 75, 128,

180, 185, 192
Youssouf, Suicide of, 258

Zimmerman, 261, 265

Zion Sisters' School, 97

Zion Sisters' treasure saved, 100

Zionists, The, 249

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My Musical Pilgrimage 1850—1918

A RECORD OF SERVICE

in

Church, Cathedral and Ahbej,

College, University and Concert

Room, with a few Notes on Sports

BY

SIR FREDERICK BRIDGE

Commandet of the Royal Victorian Order, Kinff Edward Professor

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40th Yoar of Issue.

The Year's Art 1919

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y

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Secrets of the Bosphorus

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A book of amazing revelations concerning many obscure
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2nd
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V.C, G.C.B., G.C.S.I.
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16

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One of Them; A Novel in Verse

By GILBERT FRANKAU

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Private Peat ^y harold r. peat

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A Canadian's thrilling experiences in the great War. We follow
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The Escape of a " Princess Pat "

By GEORGE EUSTACE PEARSON

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17

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THE THREE BRONTES ^ „ „ ^

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THE POEM.S OF FRANCOIS VlttON

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•NEATH VERDUN . ^ ^ ... ^ , ^ ^

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THE BATTLE OF VERDUN ' . , _

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NAPOLEON'S RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1812 , _,

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THE ELEPHANT . , „ ,,„ ^.

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UNKNOWN MONGOLIA: A Record o£ Travel and

Exploration on Rns^o-Chinese Borderlands

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A DAY IN^THE MOON ....

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WOMEN AS LETTER WRITERS , „ . .

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AN ANTHOLOGY OF BABYHOOD

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FRANCOIS VILLON : His Life and Times, 1431-1463

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A SECOND DUDLEY BOOK OF RECIPES

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l8

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RIVAL SULTANAS : Nell Gwya and Lonlae de K^roaaille

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BRITISH MAMMALS

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GREUZE AND HIS MODELS

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TOADSTOOLS and MUSHROOMS of the COUNTRYSIDE

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ASTRONOMY

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BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES

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BIRDS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE

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EQQS AND NESTS OF BRITISH BIRDS

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PETS AND HOW TO KEEP THEM

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WILD FRUITS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE

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OUR BRITISH TREES AND HOW TO KNOW THEM

By FRANCIS GEORGE HEATH. With 250 illustrations.

»9

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Eadi in cr. 8vo., cloth, 6s. 9d. net.

The Young Diana tsrd Edition

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David and Jonathan t^nd Edition

By E. TEMPLE THURSTON

Yellow English t^"^^ ^^^^^°"

By DOROTA FLATAU

Where Your Treasure Is t^"^ e^'^'°"

By BEATRICE HARRADEN

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By MAXWELL GRAY

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L2002 ^^-"^ ^^^'^°"

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Bridget [srdEdkion

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20

Hutchinson's 2/- Net Novels

NEW VOLUMES AND NEW EDITIONS
FOR 1919

Each volume bound, and with a most attractive pictorial wrapper

RICHARD RAYNAL, SOLITARY ... By Robert Hugh Benson

A MIRROR OF SHALLOTT ... „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE KING'S ACHIEYEMENT ... „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE QUEEN'S TRAGEDY „ Robert Hugh Benson

BY WHAT AUTHORITY „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE LIGHT INVISIBLE „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE SENTIMENTALISTS „ Robert Hugh Benson

AN AVERAGE MAN „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE DAWN OF ALL „ Robert Hugh Benson

A WINNOWING „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE CONVENTIONALISTS ... „ Robert Hugh Benson
THE EXPERIMENT OF GANY-
MEDE BUNN „ Dorothea Conyers

CONCERT PITCH „ Frank Danby

HER MAD MONTH „ Mabel Barnes-Gmndy

LITTLE BLUE PIGEON „ A. G. Hales

THE BAG OF SAFFRON „ Baroness von Hutten

KINGSMEAD „ Baroness von Hntten

THE GREEN PATCH „ Baroness von Hutten

FLOV/ER OF GRASS „ Kathlyn Rhodes

SANDS OF GOLD „ Kathlyn Rhodes

THE STRAIGHT RACE „ Kathlyn Rhodes

THE V/AX IMAGE „ Kathlyn Rhodes

THE BRIDGE OF KISSES ... „ Berta Ruck

THE TRAMPLING OF THE LILIES „ Rafael Sabatini

THE SHAME OF MOTLEY ... „ Rafael Sabatini

ST. MARTIN'S SUMMER „ Rafael Sabatini

THE COMBINED MAZE „ May Sinclair

IN BLUE WATERS „ H. de Yere Stacpoole

A KING IN BABYLON „ Burton E. Stevenson

VIRGINIA OF THE RHODESIANS „ Cynthia Stockley

BOUNDARY HOUSE „ Peggy Webling

VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED

THE KECROMANCERS By Robert Hugh Bcnscn

LORD OF THE WORLD „ Robert Hugh Benson

THE COWARD „ Robert Hugh Benson

COME RACK ! COME ROPE „ Robert Hugh Benson

LONELINESS ,, Robert Ku^ih Benson

INITIATION „ Robert Hugh Benson

ODDSFISHI „ Robert Hugh Benson

NONE OTHER GODS „ Robert Hugh Benson

21

HutduQSOo's 2 ■ Novels already published— continued.

WEAVE By Dorothea Coayers

THE STSAYmeS OF SAjNDY „ Dorothea Conyers

TWO IMPOSTOKS AND TINKER „ Dorothea Conyers

TWILIGHT !. FrankDanby

MARGUERITE'S WONDERFUL YEAR . .. „ Mabel Barnes-Grundy

TWO IN A TENT— AND JANE „ Mabel Barnes-Grundy

HILARY ON HER OWN „ Mabel Barnes-Grundy

PATRICIA PLAYS A PART , Mabel Barnes-Grundy

GAWDYTUFT-I MEAN VERONICA ., Mabel Barnes-Grundy

THE THIRD MISS WEN DERBY „ Mabel Barnes-Grundy

AN UNDRESSED HEROINE „ Mabel Barnes-Grundy

THE VACILLATIONS OF HAZEL „ Mabel Barnes-Grundy

WE OF THE KEVER-HEVEE „ Mrs. Aeneas Gunn

THE LORDSHIP OF LOVE „ Baroness Yon Hutten

MARIA « Baroness Yon Hutten

SH ARROW M Baroness Yon Hutten

MAGPIE »» Baroness Yon Hutten

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THE DEVIL'S GARDEN „ W. B. MaxweU

IN COTTON V/OOL „ W. B. Maxwell

MRS. THOMPSON » W.B.Maxwell

THE LEGION OF HONOUR „ Baroness Orczy

THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL .. ,, Baroness Orezy

A BBIDE OF THE PLAINS „ Baroness Oiczy

PETTICOAT GOVERNMENT „ Baroness Orczy

A TRUE WOMAN .. •• ,. Baroness Orczy

MEADOWSWEET » Baroness Orczy

A WELSH SIMGER „ AUen Ratoe

TORN SAILS ». AUen Ralne

BY BERV/EH BANKS „ Alien Raine

THALASSA „ Mrs. Balllie Reynolds

THE MAN WHO WON , Mrs. Baillie Reynolds

THE DESERT DREAMERS , Kathlyn Rhodes

THE WILL OF ALLAH „ Kathlyn Rhodes

SWEET LIFE.. : „ Kathlyn Rhodes

AFTERY/ARDS „ Kathlyn Rhodes

THE MAKING OF A SOUL „ Kathlyn Rhodes

THE LURE OF THE DESERT „ Kathlyn Rhodes

THE LAD WITH WIKGS „ Berta Ruck

THE COURTSHIP OF ROSAMOND FAYRE .. .. „ Berta Ruck

HIS OFFICIAL FIANCEE „ Berta Ruck

MISS MILLION'S MAID „ Berta Ruck

THE GIRLS AT HIS BILLET » Berta Kuck

ANTHONY WILDIMG „ Rafael Sabatmi

LOVE AT ARMS m Rafael Sabatini

THE PEARL FISHERS „ H, de Vere Stacpoole

THE BLUE HORIZON ^ H. da Vere Stacpoole

THE CHILDREN OF THE SEA „ H. da Vere Stacpoole

CORPORAL 5ACQUE8-OF THE FOREIGN LEGION „ H. de Vere Stacpoole

THE REEF OF STARS „ H. de Vere Stacpoole

LITTLE COMRADE „ Burton E. SteYenson

By the Authors of " Missing the Tide."
THE GEtANDEST THLNG IN THE WORU> (65th thotoasd)

THE PEACE PRESIDENT : THE MAN OF THE HOUR By William Archer
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WHEN MICHAEL CAME TO TOWN By Madame Albaneai

OUR ADYERSARY

GA8RIELLE JANTHRY

THE LION'S CLAWS

TKE GOLDEN SWORD

THE WHITE YAWL

THE WATCHMAN

THE SPY

THE AVALANCHE

THE GREED OF CONQUEST

THE BUILDER

THE TEKPLE OF LIES

FROM CLUE TO CAPTURE

KATE 01? KATE HALL

CHIFFON'S MARRIAGE

BY ORDER OF TKE CZAR
MADEMOISELLE CELESTE

TKE THREE BROTHERS

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A QUAKER WOOING ... * ...

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THE GREAT AGE

MAX

EVELYN'S STORY

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POPPIES IN THE CORN

THE SUNLIT HILLS

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MY LADY FRIVOL

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GIVEN IN MARRIAGE

THE PRINCESS OP NEW YORK ...
ADAM'S CLAY

„ M. E. Braddon
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,, J. B. Harris-BurlaHd
„ J. B. Harris-Burland
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„ "Gyp"
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„ William Le Queux
„ Mrs. Fred Reynolds
„ Margaret Baillie Saunders
„ Una L. Siiberrad
„ J. C. Snaith
„ Mrs. K. C. Thurston
„ Emma Jane Worboise
„ Curtis Yorke

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1^

Cosmo Hamilton
Cosmo Hamilton

Htitchinson's 1/9 Novds already published— coctioued,

'.GOOD OLD ANNA' By Mrs. Belloc Lowndes

THE ONii ¥/H0 LOOKED ON ... „ F. F. Montre'sor
THE GREAT WHITE HAND ... „ J. E. Muddock

THE MONEY MASTER „ Sir Gilbert Parker

THE UNDER SECRETARY ... „ William Le Queux

CONFESSIONS OP A LADIES' MAN „ Wiliiani Le Queux

HALF A TRUTH „"Rita"

PERSUASIVE PEGGY „ Maravene Thompson

THE WEB OF THE SPIDER ... „ H. B. Marriott Watson

THE WIFE'S TRIALS „ Emma Jane Worboise

THE LADIES' PARADISE „ Emile Zola

THE MYSTERIES OF MARSEILLES ,^ Emile Zola

In crown Svo, luith pictorial cover i 3 net.

THE STRANGLEHOLD By Coralie Stanton and Heath Kos

MISSING THE TIDE „ "One who knew her "

(Pages from the life of Margaret Carson)

NEW EDITIONS OF

Deir^ Great Novc

In crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d. net.

Printed on good paper vvitli most attractive pictorial wrapper

The Hundredth Chance

Now published for the first time in cheap form.

The Hars of Iron 202nd Tho.-san.

24

)

BmomG SECT. DEC 6 \gra"

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

TO

D Mbrgenthau, Henry

520 Secrets of the Bosphorus

T8^J65
1918